AK Steel Beats Street in 2Q, Doubles Shipments

AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) reported stronger-than expected second quarter earnings Tuesday, driven by a near-doubling in shipments that overrode sharp increases in iron ore prices.

The steelmaker posted net income of $26.7 million, or 24 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $47.2 million, or 43 cents a share, in the same quarter last year, and up from analyst expectations of 7 cents, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.

Revenue was $1.6 billion, up almost 100% from $793.6 million a year ago, and beating the Street’s view of $1.53 billion. Shipping levels saw their fourth consecutive quarterly increase, nearly doubling to 1.45 million tons.

AK Steel’s CEO James L. Wainscott said the results represent “another quarter of solid progress” for the company.

“Despite the impact of significantly increased costs for iron ore, AK Steel recorded an excellent second quarter performance,” he said.

The Ohio-based company expects third quarter shipments to increase by 3% and maintenance costs to decrease by $4 million from the prior quarter.

Shares for AK Steel were down nearly 6% in intraday trading despite the positive results.