United States Steel Corp. reported a better-than-expect performance on a key profit metric for the fourth quarter as the steel producer looks for a broader recovery to lift results in the new year.
Over all, the Pittsburgh-based steel producer on Thursday said it generated earnings of $49 million, or 22 cents a share, in the final quarter of last year, compared with a loss of $668 million, or $3.93 a share, for the year-earlier period.
A property sale helped results, and the company reported a loss after excluding it and making other adjustments.
The company said it generated $87 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, ahead of the $55 million it predicted for the metric last month.
Sales fell to $2.56 billion from $2.82 billion year over year, while analysts polled by FactSet predicted $2.58 billion for the latest period. However, sales were stronger than in the second and third quarters last year, when the pandemic cut into demand.
The steel market has been recovering, lifting prices for the metal. Earlier today, Nucor Corp. said prices in the fourth quarter were up from the third, as were shipments.
At U.S. Steel, average realized prices for flat-rolled steel hit $731 a ton in the fourth quarter, up from $699 a ton the year before. Shipments for that product were lower year over year.