News · Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (RS) · Basic Materials

Reliance Steel & Aluminum rises after third-quarter earnings beat

Session of October 21, 2026 · Published October 22, 2026 · 3 min read

What happened

Reliance Steel & Aluminum (RS) rose 0.9% on October 21, 2026, after it reported third-quarter earnings of $8.02 per share, beating estimates. The stock closed at $421.07, giving the company a market value of $20.99 billion.

Closing price over the last 30 trading sessions. On October 21, 2026, RS closed at $421.07, up 0.9% on the day and 7.3% higher than 30 sessions earlier.

How big was the move

The stock closed at $421.07, rising 0.9% on the day and rose 3.4% over the last five sessions. Trading volume was 1.9 times its 20-day average, and the move was 0.6 times a typical daily move for this stock. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% on the day and rose 0.5% over five sessions, while the Basic Materials sector median rose 0.1%, leaving the stock 0.8 percentage points better than the sector median. The stock’s beta of 0.84 indicates it tends to move less than the market.

Each bar is one day's price change; the outlined bar is October 21, 2026. A typical daily move over the past year was 1.6%, so the latest move equals 0.6 times that. Moves outside the dashed lines (about 3.1%) are unusual.

The technical picture

The stock traded with short-term strength, sitting 5.0% above its 20-day moving average and 5.7% above its 50-day moving average. It was 15.5% above its 200-day moving average, and the 50-day average was above the 200-day average, a sign of an established uptrend. The stock had spent 143 consecutive trading days above the 200-day average. The Relative Strength Index (14 days) was 68, in a neutral range, and the share price was 2.8% below the 52-week high. Over one month the stock rose 8.8%, over three months it rose 6.5%, and over one year it rose 51.2%, which was 36.1 percentage points ahead of the S&P 500. Volatility was 25% annualized over 60 days, lower than 62% of its own readings over five years.

Closing price over the past year. RS ends the period 1.7% below its 52-week high, above its 50-day average ($398.44) and above its 200-day average ($364.48).

Fundamentals and valuation

For the four quarters through September 30, 2026, revenue was $12.16 billion, a decline of 12.7% from a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share for that period were $21.44, a rise of 56.8% from a year earlier. Gross margin stood at 26.5%, compared with 27.5% a year earlier, while operating margin was 8.1%, up from 7.2% a year earlier. Free-cash-flow margin was 4.0% and return on invested capital was 9.4%. The balance sheet showed net debt of 1.4 times EBITDA, and the company reduced its share count by 2.7% over one year.

Quarterly revenue by period end. The latest quarter brought $5M, 99.9% less than the same quarter a year earlier.

On valuation metrics, the stock traded at 19.6 times trailing earnings and 17.5 times price to forward earnings, with a free-cash-flow yield of 2.3%. Its price to trailing earnings was higher than 67% of its own readings over the past five years, where the five-year median is 14.2 times earnings. Those figures suggest the stock is priced toward the higher end of its historical range even as free-cash-flow generation remained modest. PromtFinance scores highlighted a split in the company’s profile. Momentum was 98 (Exceptional) and Stability was 90 (Exceptional), signalling recent price strength and low volatility relative to peers. By contrast, Growth was 14 (Very weak) and Revisions 22 (Very weak), reflecting weak medium-term growth signals and limited upward analyst revision activity. Value was 46 (Neutral) and Quality 50 (Neutral), underscoring the mixed fundamental picture.

Earnings and analyst expectations

Reliance Steel & Aluminum reported third-quarter 2026 results for the period ended September 30, 2026. The company announced quarterly earnings of $8.02 per share, up from $3.64 a year earlier and above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.83 per share, according to GlobeNewsWire and Zacks Investment Research. The company beat estimates for the third consecutive quarter, with an average surprise of 7.1% above estimates over the last four reports. The typical two-day reaction after recent reports was that the stock rose 0.4%.

Diluted earnings per share by quarter. The latest quarter shows $7.84, against $3.59 in the same quarter a year earlier.

Analysts covering the stock numbered 27, with a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $390.60, which was 7.2% below the closing price. Thirty-three percent of analysts gave the stock a Buy or Strong Buy rating. The next scheduled earnings report is February 17, 2027.

What to watch

February 17, 2027: Next scheduled earnings report.
Consensus price target of $390.60, 7.2% below the closing price on October 21, 2026.
Net debt of 1.4 times EBITDA and free-cash-flow margin of 4.0% for the four quarters through September 30, 2026.
Share count decreased by 2.7% over one year and diluted EPS for the same period was $21.44.
Momentum score 98 and Stability score 90 within the sector.

Full RS analysis: scores, chart and financials →