One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$132.55 our estimate vs market $237.55
Wall Street consensus: $272.68 (105.7% higher than our fair-value estimate)
79% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
Steel Dynamics, Inc.
STLD · NMS · Basic Materials · Steel
Current price
$237.55
52-week range
$150.03 - $288.74
Market cap
$33.78B
Balance sheet
Watch
22.83x Strong cushion
Net debt $3.48B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
3 Risks
3 rewards · 3 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 22.2% last year.
- Reward Returns 20.8% on equity, ahead of 80% of its peers.
- Risk Net debt grew 322.8% over 3 years.
- Risk Stock trades 54.1% above its 5-year average P/E.
What this company does
Steel Dynamics, Inc.
Steel Dynamics, Inc. makes and recycles steel and aluminum products used in everything from buildings to cars. Their money mainly comes from selling these metals, and their profit margins (the percentage of money left after paying for making the stuff) are important because they show how efficiently they are running their business. This matters to investors because healthy margins mean the company can make more money to grow or return to shareholders.
How the company got here
Steel Dynamics, Inc. (STLD) was founded in 1993, emerging as a modern steel producer focused on efficiency and innovation. Unlike older, more traditional steel mills, STLD was built with a more agile approach, integrating steelmaking with recycling. This strategy allowed the company to adapt to changing market demands and become a significant player in the North American steel industry. Over the years, STLD has grown through strategic expansions and acquisitions, solidifying its position as a diversified metals producer.
What it actually does
Steel Dynamics is essentially a company that makes and recycles metals, primarily steel and aluminum. Think of them as a large-scale manufacturer that takes raw materials, like scrap metal, and transforms them into usable products. These products are then sold to other businesses that use them to build things like buildings, cars, and machinery. They also have a significant operation dedicated to collecting and processing scrap metal, which is a key ingredient in making new steel.
Steel Operations
This is the core of Steel Dynamics, where the company produces a wide variety of steel products. They make everything from the large beams used in constructing skyscrapers and bridges to specialized steel bars used in automotive parts and heavy equipment. The steel is made using advanced processes, often incorporating recycled materials, which helps control costs and environmental impact. This segment serves crucial industries like construction, manufacturing, and transportation, making it a significant contributor to the company's overall business.
Metals Recycling Operations
This segment acts as the company's recycling arm, collecting and processing both steel (ferrous) and other types of metal (nonferrous) scrap. They buy scrap metal from various sources, sort it, and prepare it to be used as raw material in their own steelmaking operations or sold to other manufacturers. By recycling metals, Steel Dynamics reduces its reliance on virgin materials, lowers production costs, and contributes to a more circular economy. This operation is vital for providing a consistent and cost-effective supply of materials for their steel mills.
Steel Fabrication Operations
In this part of the business, Steel Dynamics takes the steel they produce and turns it into components for non-residential buildings. This includes items like steel joists (the framework for floors and roofs) and steel decking (the surface that concrete is poured onto). Essentially, they are creating ready-to-use building parts for contractors and construction companies. This segment adds value by transforming raw steel into specialized products needed for commercial and industrial construction projects.
Aluminum Operations
This segment focuses on producing flat rolled aluminum products, primarily from recycled aluminum. Aluminum is a lighter and often more corrosion-resistant metal than steel, making it suitable for different applications. By using recycled aluminum, this operation aligns with the company's broader sustainability goals and provides a valuable material for industries that require lightweight and durable metal solutions. While newer than their steel operations, it represents a growing area for the company.
What management is betting on now
Steel Dynamics' management is focused on expanding their value-added product lines, which means making more specialized and higher-margin steel products rather than basic commodities. They are also investing in increasing their steelmaking capacity and further integrating their operations, from recycling to fabrication. This strategy aims to capture more of the value chain, improve efficiency, and better serve diverse customer needs across various industries. The company is also committed to sustainable practices, leveraging recycling to reduce environmental impact and costs.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q4
$-106.30M
FY2025 Q1
$-152.90M
FY2025 Q2
$13.28M
FY2025 Q3
$556.92M
FY2025 Q4
$84.22M
FY2026 Q1
$10.34M
FY2026 Q2
$304.09M
FY2026 Q3
$696.19M
Revenue
$6.51B
Net income
$756.00M
Diluted EPS
5.26
Operating cash flow
$845.79M
Free cash flow
$696.19M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$6.09B
Net income
$534.09M
Diluted EPS
3.69
Operating cash flow
$427.94M
Free cash flow
$304.09M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$5.20B
Net income
$403.44M
Diluted EPS
2.78
Operating cash flow
$148.32M
Free cash flow
$10.34M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$4.41B
Net income
$266.03M
Diluted EPS
1.80
Operating cash flow
$272.71M
Free cash flow
$84.22M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$4.83B
Net income
$403.69M
Diluted EPS
2.74
Operating cash flow
$722.61M
Free cash flow
$556.92M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$4.57B
Net income
$298.73M
Diluted EPS
2.01
Operating cash flow
$301.61M
Free cash flow
$13.28M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$4.37B
Net income
$217.15M
Diluted EPS
1.44
Operating cash flow
$152.60M
Free cash flow
$-152.90M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$3.87B
Net income
$207.29M
Diluted EPS
1.40
Operating cash flow
$346.87M
Free cash flow
$-106.30M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $132.55 vs current price $237.55
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $272.68 (105.7% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $132.55 a share — about 44.2% below today's price of $237.55, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Watch
Net debt $3.5B. Interest coverage 22.8x.
Net debt
$3.48B
Interest coverage
22.83x
Steel Dynamics, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 22.8 times over. which is stronger than every peer shown here and 1 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Watch
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
STLD
BASELINE
Steel Dynamics, Inc.
Total debt $4.41B Interest coverage 22.83x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $7.10B Interest coverage 15.64x -31% vs STLD Carries about 1.5x less debt cushion than STLD.
Total debt $7.66B Interest coverage -2.45x -100% vs STLD This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with STLD.
Total debt $3.61B Interest coverage 6.07x -73% vs STLD Carries about 3.8x less debt cushion than STLD.
Total debt $1.97B Interest coverage 6.08x -73% vs STLD Carries about 3.8x less debt cushion than STLD.
What you should know
The case for and against STLD
3 Rewards
3 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 22.2% last year.
-
Returns 20.8% on equity, ahead of 80% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 8/10 years.
Risks
-
Net debt grew 322.8% over 3 years.
-
Stock trades 54.1% above its 5-year average P/E.
-
Operating margin compressed from 24.9% to 15.5% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
17.54x
Forward P/E
11.10x
P/B
3.44x
P/S
1.52x
EV/EBITDA
11.59x
PEG ratio
11.95x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
15.9%
Operating margin
15.5%
Net margin
8.8%
ROE
20.8%
ROA
9.4%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.45x
Current ratio
3.15x
Quick ratio
1.32x
Total debt
$4.41B
Total cash
$928.56M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$22.22B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
-0.3%
EPS TTM
13.54
EPS 5Y CAGR
-27.4%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$1.69B
Free CF TTM
$501.51M
FCF margin
2.3%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
0.9%
Payout ratio
18.7%
Last ex-div date
2026-09-30