Service Centers

Reliance profits dip amid trade policy headwinds

Written by Ethan Bernard

October 23, 2025

Reliance Inc.

Third quarter ended Sept. 3020252024% Change
Net sales$3,651.2$3,420.36.8%
Net earnings (loss)$189.5$199.2-4.9%
Per diluted share$3.59$3.61-0.6%
Nine months ended Sept. 30
Net sales$10,795.7$10,708.40.8%
Net earnings (loss)$622.9$769.9-19.1%
Per diluted share$11.74$13.55-13.4%
(in millions of dollars except per share)

Reliance Inc. reported lower profits in the third quarter amid trade woes and abundant inventory in the market.

The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based service center chain – the nation’s largest – logged Q3’25 earnings of $189.5 million attributable to Reliance, down 5% from $199.2 million a year earlier. However, net sales rose 7% to $3.65 billion in the same comparison.

“Trade policy uncertainty and readily available inventory are causing buyers to be hesitant, creating an extremely competitive market,” President and CEO Karla Lewis said in a statement on Wednesday. “In this environment, it is more difficult to immediately increase selling prices to fully offset mill price increases.”

However, she pointed out that Reliance’s tons sold were a Q3 record and “outperformed the industry by approximately nine percentage points, increasing our US market share to 17.1%, up from 14.5% in 2023.”

Its tons sold in Q3’25 increased 6.2% year over year and remained flat from Q2’25.

The company shipped 4.0 million tons of carbon steel in Q3’25, up 7% y/y.

Reliance’s largest end market by tons, non-residential construction (including infrastructure), improved from Q3’24. And the company anticipates non-residential construction demand to remain at healthy levels through year’s end, subject to normal seasonality.

Outlook

Reliance expects Q4’25 demand “will remain generally stable across the diversified end markets it serves.”

However, this depends on the “ongoing domestic and international trade policy uncertainty.”

The company estimates tons sold in the last quarter of this year will be up 3.5% to 5.5% vs. Q4’24, and down 5% to 7% from Q3’25.

Additionally, Reliance forecasts non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $2.65 to $2.85 for the next quarter. This includes a LIFO expense of $25 million, or $0.35 per diluted share.

“Looking ahead, we remain focused on investing for growth and delivering value to our customers and stockholders, supported by our consistently strong cash generation,” Lewis said.

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is managing editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years, starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.

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