United States Steel Corp (NYSE:X) shares are trading lower in Thursday's after-hours session after the company issued fourth-quarter guidance below analyst estimates.
What Happened: After the market close on Thursday, U.S. Steel said it expects to report a fourth-quarter adjusted loss of 25 cents to 29 cents per share. Fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA is expected to come in around $150 million.
"Steel prices remained depressed and BR2 ramp-related costs exert pressure on the quarter, while the Big River team works towards increasing prime ton production in our new mill. Despite the challenging pricing environment across all segments, the North American Flat-Rolled segment continues to deliver strong EBITDA primarily through its robust commercial strategy and a diverse product mix," said David Burritt, CEO of U.S. Steel.
Q4 Adjusted EBITDA By Segment:
- The Flat-Rolled segment's adjusted EBITDA is expected to be lower than the third quarter due to lower selling prices and volumes.
- The Mini Mill segment's adjusted EBITDA is expected to be lower than the third quarter due to lower volumes.
- The European segment's adjusted EBITDA is expected to be lower than the third quarter, largely due to the unfavorable impact of weak demand, resulting in lower volumes, average selling prices and volume inefficiencies.
- The Tubular segment's adjusted EBITDA is expected to be higher than the third quarter, primarily due to increased volume and lower costs due to the absence of outage activity.
"In Europe, the demand and pricing environment remains weak. To meet production volume requirements after unplanned downtime from a fire at the #1 Caster, we are temporarily operating three blast furnaces beginning Dec. 7, but expect to return to two blast furnaces by January. The Tubular segment continues to face pressure from a weak pricing environment," Burritt added.
U.S. Steel is due to report fourth-quarter financial results near the end of January. Analysts currently expect the company to report fourth-quarter revenue of $3.69 billion. Fourth-quarter earnings were projected around 16 cents per share before Thursday's guidance update.
X Price Action: U.S. Steel shares were down 4.54% in Thursday's after-hours session, trading at $30.28 at the time of publication, per Benzinga Pro.
Photo: Courtesy U.S. Steel
