CMC earnings soar in fiscal Q2, near-term outlook bright

Commercial Metals Co.

Third quarter ended Feb. 28	2026	2025	% Change
Net sales	$2,132.0	$1,754.4	21.5%
Net earnings (loss)	$93.0	$25.5	265.2%
Per diluted share	$ 0.83	$ 0.22	277.3%
Six months ended Feb. 28
Net sales	$4,252.3	$3,664.0	16.1%
Net earnings (loss)	$270,314	$(150,245)	279.9%
Per diluted share	$2.41	$(1.32	282.6%

(in millions of dollars except per share)

CMC’s fiscal second-quarter earnings more than doubled on strong underlying market conditions across all its segments.

The Irving, Texas-based longs steel producer and metal solutions provider reported net earnings of $93.0 million in its fiscal Q2’26 ended Feb. 28, up 265% from $25.5 million a year earlier. Net sales increased 22% to $2.13 billion in the same comparison.

“While weather disruptions temporarily impacted much of our North American footprint during the quarter, we were encouraged by the favorable underlying market conditions across our segments,” President and CEO Peter Matt said in a statement on Thursday.

Matt noted the second fiscal quarter marked CMC’s entry into the precast concrete business. This follows the acquisition of Ashland, Va.-based Concrete Pipe and Precast and Newnan, Ga.-based Foley Products Co. in December.

North America Steel Group shipments

The company said North America Steel Group shipments remained stable during the quarter. Average daily volumes of finished steel products were virtually unchanged from the year-earlier period.

But on a sequential basis, average daily volumes decreased by 8.2%. CMC said this was in line with historical seasonal patterns.

Outlook

Looking ahead to the company’s fiscal third quarter, Matt was upbeat.

“We expect consolidated core EBITDA in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 to increase meaningfully from second-quarter levels due to normal seasonal improvement within our key markets and continued margin strength across our North American footprint,” he said.

Matt added that the North America Steel Group’s adjusted EBITDA is expected to rise modestly on a sequential basis due to higher seasonal volumes.

However, this will be “partially offset by annual maintenance outages across the mill network that are expected to add approximately $15 million to $20 million in costs during the quarter.”

Regarding geopolitics, Matt said that in CMC’s US market, “We have not yet experienced any direct impact from the war in Iran.”

Still, they continue to closely monitor the situation for potential demand disruptions or cost inflation.

But in Europe, energy costs have risen, “though the magnitude of the financial effect will depend on the duration of the conflict.”

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.