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ArcelorMittal's (MT) Q2 Earnings and Revenues Miss Estimates

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ArcelorMittal S.A. (MT - Free Report) recorded a net income of $504 million or 63 cents per share in second-quarter 2024 compared with $1,860 million or $2.21 per share in the year-ago quarter. The bottom line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.12 per share.

Total sales fell around 13% year over year to $16,249 million in the quarter. The figure also missed the consensus estimate of $16,911.4 million.

Total steel shipments fell 2% year over year to 13.9 million metric tons in the reported quarter. The figure was above our estimate of 13.6 million metric tons.

ArcelorMittal Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

ArcelorMittal Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

ArcelorMittal price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | ArcelorMittal Quote

 

Segment Highlights

North America: Sales were down 9.6% year over year to $3,162 million in the reported quarter. Crude steel production was also down 18.7% year over year at 1,823 million metric tons. Steel shipments declined around 5% year over year to 2,468 million metric tons, lower than our estimate of 2,596 million metric tons. The average steel selling price fell 6.8% to $1,040 per ton.

Brazil: Sales were down 15% year over year at $3,243 million. Crude steel production fell 3% year over year to 3,607 million metric tons. Shipments increased 1.5% year over year to 3,637 million metric tons, higher than our estimate of 3,566 million metric tons. Average steel selling prices fell 17.5% to $826 per ton.

Europe: Sales declined around 10% year over year to $7,822 million. Crude steel production rose nearly 18% year over year to 8,041 million metric tons in the reported quarter. Shipments improved around 4% year over year to 7,407 million metric tons, higher than our estimate of 7,102 million metric tons. The average steel selling price declined around 11% year over year to $929 per ton.

Mining: Sales fell 5.7% year over year to $641 million. Iron ore production totaled 5.9 million metric tons, down around 8% from the year-ago quarter’s levels. Iron ore shipments were down 6% year over year to 6.2 million metric tons.

Financials

In the reported quarter, net cash provided by operating activities was $1,073 million compared with $2,087 million provided in the year-ago quarter. The company’s net debt was around $5.2 billion, up nearly 9.2% sequentially.

Outlook

The company believes that the current market conditions are not sustainable due to China's excess steel production relative to demand, which resulted in very low domestic steel spreads and aggressive exports. Both Europe and the United States are experiencing steel prices below the marginal cost. Nevertheless, the company anticipates higher apparent demand in the second half of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023, which was affected by destocking, especially in Europe. With absolute inventory levels remaining low in Europe, the company is optimistic about the potential for restocking activity as real demand begins to recover.

MT now projects 2.5-3% growth in global steel consumption, excluding China, in 2024, compared with its prior view of 3-4% growth.

The company maintains its capital expenditure forecast for 2024 within the range of $4.5-$5 billion, including $1.4-$1.5 billion allocated to strategic growth projects.

The company expects the $1.6-billion investment in working capital in the first half of 2024 to reverse by the year-end, supporting a positive outlook for free cash flow generation. The completion of the company's strategic growth projects is anticipated to contribute to structurally higher EBITDA and investable cash flow in the future.

Price Performance

ArcelorMittal’s shares have lost 22.3% in the past year against the industry’s 15.9% fall.

Zacks Investment Research
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Zacks Rank & Key Picks

ArcelorMittal currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Hecla Mining Company (HL - Free Report) , Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV - Free Report) and Ashland Inc. (ASH - Free Report) . Hecla and Franco-Nevada sport a Zacks Rank #1, and Ashland carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Hecla's current-year earnings is pegged at 5 cents, indicating a rise of 600% from year-ago levels. The consensus estimate for HL’s earnings has increased 25% in the past 60 days.The stock has gained nearly 2.3% in the past year. It will report second-quarter results on Aug 6.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FNV’s current-year earnings is pegged at $3.27. The consensus estimate for FNV’s earnings has increased by 3% in the past 60 days. FNV beat the consensus estimate in the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 10.5%. It is scheduled to release second-quarter results on Aug 13.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ASH’s current-year earnings is pegged at $4.56, indicating a year-over-year rise of 12%. ASH’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters while matching it once, the average earnings surprise being 5.8%. The company’s shares have increased 6.8% in the past year. It is slated to report fiscal third-quarter results on Aug 6.

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