ArcelorMittal
MT
recorded profits of $1,207 million or $1.00 per share in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared with a loss of $1,882 million or $1.86 in the year-ago quarter.
Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings per share were 18 cents that topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 8 cents.
Total sales fell around 9% year over year to $14,184 million in the quarter. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15,717.5 million. Sales were hurt by lower steel shipments due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on steel demand, partly offset by higher average steel selling prices.
Total steel shipments fell around 12% year over year to 17.3 million metric tons in the reported quarter. Average steel selling prices were up around 6% year over year. The steel giant benefited from improved market conditions in the fourth quarter.
ArcelorMittal Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
ArcelorMittal price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart
|
ArcelorMittal Quote
Segment Review
NAFTA:
Sales fell roughly 20% year over year to $3.3 billion in the reported quarter. Crude steel production fell roughly 21% year over year to 4.2 million metric tons. Steel shipments fell around 18% year over year to 4.1 million metric tons. Average steel selling price declined 2% year over year to $714 per ton.
Brazil:
Sales fell around 1% year over year to $1.9 billion. Crude steel production rose roughly 15% year over year to 2.9 million metric tons. Shipments fell 5% year over year to 2.6 million metric tons. Average steel selling price went up 12% year over year to $702 per ton.
Europe:
Sales declined around 5% year over year to $7.6 billion. Crude steel production rose roughly 1% year over year to 9.1 million metric tons in the reported quarter. Shipments fell around 8% year over year to 8.6 million metric tons. Average steel selling price went up roughly 6% year over year to $695 per ton.
Asia Africa and CIS (ACIS):
Sales fell around 9% year over year to $1.5 billion. Crude steel production totaled 2.7 million metric tons, down roughly 10% year over year. Shipments fell around 21% year over year to around 2.4 million metric tons. Average selling prices rose around 11% year over year to $511 per ton.
Mining:
Sales climbed 36% year over year to $1.5 billion. Iron ore production totaled 15.3 million metric tons, up around 3% from the year-ago quarter. Coal production totaled 1.1 million metric tons, down roughly 21% year over year.
FY20 Results
Loss (as reported) for full-year 2020 was 64 cents per share, compared with a loss of $2.42 per share a year ago. Revenues dropped roughly 25% year over year to $53.3 billion for the full year.
Financials
At the end of 2020, ArcelorMittal had cash and cash equivalents of around $6 billion, up around 19% year over year. The company’s long-term debt was $9.8 billion, down roughly 14% on a sequential-comparison basis.
Net cash from operating activities fell 32% year over year to $4,082 million for full-year 2020.
Outlook
Moving ahead, ArcelorMittal envisions global apparent steel consumption (“ASC”) to grow 4.5-5.5% in 2021. This compares with a contraction of 1% in 2020. The global steel industry is now benefiting from a favorable supply-demand balance that is supporting rising utilization as demand recovers, the company noted. ArcelorMittal sees ASC to grow year over year in 2021 in all of its core markets based on this positive outlook.
The company also revealed a new $1 billion fixed cost reduction program which it expects to complete by the end of next year. The program includes actions to improve productivity and maintenance efficiency, and rationalize support functions. The company noted that the plan includes a 20% reduction in corporate office headcount. ArcelorMittal expects to achieve the majority of the savings in 2021.
Price Performance
ArcelorMittal’s shares have gained 26.7% in the past year compared with 27.3% rise of the
industry
.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
ArcelorMittal currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Other top-ranked stocks worth considering in the basic materials space include
Fortescue Metals Group Limited
FSUGY
,
Impala Platinum Holdings Limited
IMPUY
and
New Gold Inc.
NGD
.
Fortescue has a projected earnings growth rate of 78.4% for the current fiscal. The company’s shares have surged around 147% in a year. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1. You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here
.
Impala Platinum has an expected earnings growth rate of 189.4% for the current fiscal. The company’s shares have rallied around 57% in the past year. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #1.
New Gold has a projected earnings growth rate of 733.3% for the current year. The company’s shares have shot up around 107% in a year. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2021
In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 best buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2021?
Last year’s 2020 Zacks Top 10 Stocks portfolio returned gains as high as +386.8%. Now a brand-new portfolio has been handpicked from over 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Don’t miss your chance to get in on these long-term buys.
Access Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2021 today >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.
Click to get this free report