Worthington Steel Inc
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
The business model works and is not financially at risk: $201.2 million of cash from operations in fiscal 2026, $1,197.6 million of equity, only $172.2 million of net debt at the May 31, 2026 balance sheet date, and a dividend covered several times over. Nothing supports red — no going-concern doubt, no negative equity, no interest coverage below one, no listing risk. Yellow stands anyway, for two operating reasons that are both open. First, fiscal 2026 earnings had to be halved sixteen days after the first announcement because further impairments surfaced during the company's own year-end controls — that it found and disclosed the error itself speaks in its favor, but the audited version in the annual report (10-K) was still outstanding on July 28, 2026, as was the auditors' statement on the effectiveness of internal control. Second, the group has leaned out with $1.4 billion of debt for the largest acquisition in its history, and integrating a European company over which it does not even hold instruction rights during the transition period is unproven. Add to that a year whose sign depended on a single unconsolidated joint venture. None of this is a substance risk — but they are open operating questions, and open questions call for the more cautious grade. This light says nothing about price: whether a price-to-sales ratio of a little over 0.5 is cheap is for the scanners to decide, not for this assessment. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Worthington Steel is a sound steel processor with a reporting problem and a transformation risk. Operationally, fiscal 2026 was better than the year before — $3,443.8 million of net sales, $2.24 of adjusted earnings per share, $80.0 million of free cash flow. What was actually reported, however, came to just $0.17 per share, after $112.2 million was written off in Electrical Steel and the company had to replace its own financial release in its entirety sixteen days later. At the same time it has borrowed $1.4 billion to buy Klöckner & Co — against a market value of about $1.84 billion (data as of July 28, 2026) and a balance sheet that knows nothing about it yet. Not investment advice.
Operating substance
The core business carries itself: net sales rose 11.3 percent to $3,443.8 million in fiscal 2026 (ended May 31, 2026), adjusted earnings per share went from $2.16 to $2.24 and adjusted EBIT from $149.1 million to $161.1 million. The company attributes the revenue gain primarily to higher direct volumes, including the first-time consolidation of the Sitem Group, and only then to prices; total tonnage fell 5.5 percent (3,586,817 tons after 3,793,752) because low-revenue toll processing collapsed. Operationally, 2026 was the better year.
Earnings quality & reporting
The financial release of June 24, 2026 was superseded in its entirety on July 10, 2026: $0.34 per share became $0.17, and $15.5 million of operating income became a $1.4 million operating loss. The trigger was additional impairments in Electrical Steel that only surfaced during year-end closing controls. It was already the second correction of the same release within 16 days — the June 25, 2026 filing had itself carried a corrected version because a footnote in the reconciliation table was erroneously duplicated. The audited annual report (10-K) for fiscal 2026 had not been filed as of July 28, 2026. One day before that first release the Corporate Controller and Principal Accounting Officer, the executive responsible for financial reporting, announced his retirement and left the same day — not, the filing states, as the result of any disagreement over accounting.
Balance sheet & leverage
At May 31, 2026 the balance sheet was sound — unaudited, since it appears only in the financial release: $2,252.4 million of total assets, $1,197.6 million of equity, net debt of only $172.2 million. One day later $1.4 billion of new debt arrived for Klöckner ($700 million of notes at 7.750 percent due 2033 plus a $700 million term loan); consolidation also pulls roughly $899.7 million of Klöckner's own borrowings onto the books. The company's unaudited pro forma statements of May 26, 2026 show $2,274.9 million of long-term debt as of February 28, 2026 — more than the market value of about $1.84 billion — alongside $6,106.1 million of total assets, $1,718.7 million of equity and $9,702.7 million of trailing twelve-month net sales. The term loan carries no financial maintenance covenant. The quarterly report (10-Q) for the first quarter of fiscal 2027 brings the first reported, but still unaudited, figures for the combined group; audited figures only come with the annual report (10-K) for fiscal 2027.
Dependencies
Automotive accounted for 52 percent of fiscal 2025 net sales, 33 points of it from the Detroit Three; two individual customers stood at 14 and 12 percent. On top of that sits the Mexican 50 percent joint venture: $20.3 million of equity income in fiscal 2026 against pre-tax earnings of $7.1 million — without it, the year would have been negative before tax.
Cash flow & dividend
The impairment costs no liquidity: operations generated $201.2 million in fiscal 2026 (prior year $230.3 million), and after $121.2 million of capital spending $80.0 million of free cash flow remained. The dividend of $0.64 per share cost $32.6 million and is covered several times over; trailing twelve-month adjusted EBITDA was $245.3 million.
Worth Noting
Worthington Steel reached our research list through the filing stream at the U.S. securities regulator, the SEC: on July 10, 2026 the company superseded its own financial release of June 24, 2026 in its entirety by amendment (Form 8-K/A). Amendments to earnings releases are rare. The striking contradiction in our data — a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.1 alongside a price-to-sales ratio of a little over 0.5, as of July 28, 2026 — has the same origin: it still carries the withdrawn $0.34 per share.
Data cut-off and evidence chain: every figure through fiscal 2025 comes from the audited annual report (10-K, filed July 29, 2025), the nine-month figures from the quarterly report (10-Q) as of February 28, 2026, and all fiscal 2026 annual figures from the corrected financial release of July 10, 2026 — which is unaudited. The annual report for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2026 had not been filed as of July 28, 2026.
Not to be confused: Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE: WS) has been independent since December 1, 2023 and is not the same company as its former parent, which today is called Worthington Enterprises, Inc. The fiscal year ends May 31; references to "fiscal 2026" cover essentially June 2025 through May 2026. Analyses here are evergreen, and a daily price is never a reason to buy.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at WS since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 28.10 $ to 48.70 $ · Last price: 33.80 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Steel
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worthington Steel Inc WS | 1.7 | – | 16.1 | 11.7 | – | -9.8 | 3.9 |
| Nucor Corp NUE | 61.9 | 25.5 | 11.0 | 15.6 | 11.8 | 5.7 | 88.2 |
| ArcelorMittal SA MT | 56.7 | 31.7 | 10.7 | 9.0 | 6.3 | -1.7 | 113.5 |
| Steel Dynamics Inc STLD | 36.5 | 25.8 | 13.5 | 14.6 | 10.3 | 3.6 | 72.6 |
| Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co RS | 20.5 | 24.8 | 13.1 | 28.3 | 9.1 | 3.3 | 40.9 |
| Ternium SA TX | 11.4 | 16.2 | 5.6 | 17.7 | 12.2 | -11.6 | 69.9 |
| Cleveland-Cliffs Inc CLF | 7.8 | – | 29.7 | -1.1 | -2.9 | -3.0 | 13.0 |
| Northwest Pipe Company NWPX | 1.0 | 24.1 | 12.4 | 20.9 | 9.2 | 6.8 | 98.8 |
| Metallus, Inc MTUS | 0.8 | 270.2 | 10.3 | 8.2 | – | 6.9 | 17.7 |
| Median of companies shown | 11.4 | 25.5 | 12.4 | 14.6 | 9.2 | 3.3 | 69.9 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2,127 | 222 | 171 | 3.42 | 153 | 661 | 1,367 |
| 2022 | 4,069 | 227 | 180 | 3.61 | 39 | 1,133 | 2,084 |
| 2023 | 3,608 | 120 | 87 | 1.74 | 315 | 1,029 | 1,764 |
| 2024 | 3,431 | 195 | 155 | 3.11 | 200 | 985 | 1,866 |
| 2025 | 3,093 | 147 | 111 | 2.24 | 230 | 1,074 | 1,962 |
| 2026 | 3,444 | 105 | 17 | 0.35 | 201 | 1,072 | 2,269 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 0.25 | – | 739 | -8.50 | 1.70 | 68 | 33 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.27 | -72.50 | 687 | -14.70 | 2.00 | 54 | 25 |
| 2025: Q2 | 1.13 | 4.30 | 833 | -8.60 | 6.70 | 54 | 8 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.73 | 29.90 | 873 | 4.70 | 4.20 | -6 | -36 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.38 | 49.50 | 872 | 18.00 | 2.20 | 99 | 75 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.21 | -23.60 | 770 | 12.00 | 1.40 | 63 | 117 |
| 2026: Q2 | -1.13 | -200.00 | 929 | 11.60 | -6.20 | 45 | 8 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 10 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Quality & Balance Sheet
- Insider Buying (Net)
- Institutional + Insiders Building Positions
- Institutional Accumulation
- Pros 80%
Momentum & Trend
- Gary Antonacci: Dual Momentum (Stock Adaptation)
- Mark Minervini: Trend Criteria — 1 Month
- Stan Weinstein: Stage 2
Research
Risk & Weakness
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. Scanners marked in red are red-flag signals (risk/short scanners) — appearing there is not a seal of approval. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05/31/2027 | 4.29 | 4.29 – 4.29 | 0 | 92.4% | 1 |
| 05/31/2028 | 4.87 | 4.87 – 4.87 | 0 | 13.5% | 1 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly 3.6% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $117.7M |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $1.74B |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $167.1M |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 50.7% |
For comparison: over the past five years free cash flow shrank by 8.4% per year.
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Worthington Steel setzt kommerziell verfügbare KI- und Machine-Learning-Werkzeuge seit dem Geschäftsjahr 2026 im Rahmen des eigenen Transformationsprogramms intern ein (Produktivität, Entscheidungsunterstützung, vorausschauende Wartung, automatisiertes Berichtswesen), erzielt damit aber keinerlei Umsatz — KI ist Werkzeug, nicht Produkt, und die Risikoabschnitte behandeln nur Risiken aus der eigenen Nutzung, nicht eine Bedrohung des Stahlverarbeitungs-Geschäfts.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„We have begun using commercially available artificial intelligence tools (“AI”) and traditional machine learning (“ML”) technologies to enhance productivity and support internal decision-making. We are not engaged in high-risk or autonomous AI systems that materially influence customer-facing decisions or critical infrastructure."
Wir haben begonnen, kommerziell verfügbare Werkzeuge der künstlichen Intelligenz („KI“) und herkömmliche Machine-Learning-Technologien („ML“) einzusetzen, um die Produktivität zu steigern und die interne Entscheidungsfindung zu unterstützen. Wir betreiben keine risikoreichen oder autonomen KI-Systeme, die kundenbezogene Entscheidungen oder kritische Infrastruktur wesentlich beeinflussen.
10-K · 2025-07-29 · View SEC filing
„During the third quarter of fiscal 2026, we continued integrating commercially available AI technologies into our long-term transformation strategy. Through these efforts, we continue to use AI to generate insights, evaluate strategies, and automate routine tasks, improving productivity and strengthening internal decision-making. We are developing and refining AI solutions in areas such as predictive maintenance and intelligent reporting, which drive greater value through smarter, more connected systems."
Im dritten Quartal des Geschäftsjahres 2026 haben wir kommerziell verfügbare KI-Technologien weiter in unsere langfristige Transformationsstrategie eingebunden. Dabei nutzen wir KI weiterhin, um Erkenntnisse zu gewinnen, Strategien zu bewerten und Routineaufgaben zu automatisieren; das steigert die Produktivität und stärkt die interne Entscheidungsfindung. Wir entwickeln und verfeinern KI-Lösungen in Bereichen wie vorausschauender Wartung und intelligentem Berichtswesen, die über klügere, stärker vernetzte Systeme mehr Wert schaffen.
10-Q · 2026-04-09 · View SEC filing
„During the first quarter of fiscal 2026, we continued to execute upon our transformation strategy through the deployment of commercially available AI technologies. We are using AI to gain insight, assess strategies and automate low-value tasks thereby enhancing productivity and supporting internal decision-making. We are testing use cases like predictive maintenance and intelligent reporting."
Im ersten Quartal des Geschäftsjahres 2026 haben wir unsere Transformationsstrategie durch den Einsatz kommerziell verfügbarer KI-Technologien weiter umgesetzt. Wir nutzen KI, um Erkenntnisse zu gewinnen, Strategien zu bewerten und geringwertige Aufgaben zu automatisieren, und steigern damit die Produktivität und unterstützen die interne Entscheidungsfindung. Wir erproben Anwendungsfälle wie vorausschauende Wartung und intelligentes Berichtswesen.
10-Q · 2025-10-10 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-04-09 · 10-Q 2026-01-08 · 10-Q 2025-10-10 · 10-K 2025-07-29 · 10-Q 2025-04-11 · 10-K 2024-08-02
Rated on July 28, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years -1.5%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 10.5%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year -0.2%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 13.7%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 11.7%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 2.0%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 1.4 x EBITDA
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 348 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 7.0%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 36.0%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
5/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 10.1%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% -100.0%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% -13.9%
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 274.4%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT 2.6x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 6
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 53.6%
- Return on equity > 15% 1.8%
- ROCE > 15% 7.0%
- Expected return > 10% 291.6%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 2026 | Gilmore Geoffrey G | President and CEO | Other | 10,555 | 32.16 | 339,449 |
| Jul 7, 2026 | Gilmore Geoffrey G | President and CEO | Other | 23,664 | 0.00 | – |
| Jul 7, 2026 | Blystone John B | Executive Chairman | Other | 6,408 | 32.16 | 206,081 |
| Jul 7, 2026 | Blystone John B | Executive Chairman | Other | 14,750 | 0.00 | – |
| Jul 7, 2026 | Larivey Clifford | President Flat Rolled Stl Proc | Other | 1,297 | 32.16 | 41,712 |
| Jul 7, 2026 | Larivey Clifford | President Flat Rolled Stl Proc | Other | 2,906 | 0.00 | – |
| Jul 7, 2026 | Adams Timothy A | Chief Financial Officer | Other | 1,266 | 32.16 | 40,715 |
| Jul 7, 2026 | Adams Timothy A | Chief Financial Officer | Other | 2,837 | 0.00 | – |
| Jul 7, 2026 | Klingler Jeffrey R | Chief Operating Officer | Other | 3,861 | 32.16 | 124,170 |
| Jul 7, 2026 | Klingler Jeffrey R | Chief Operating Officer | Other | 8,655 | 0.00 | – |
The company
About the Company
Worthington Steel, Inc. ist ein Stahlverarbeiter in Nordamerika.
- Employees
- 5,400
- Headquarters
- Columbus, OH
- Address
- 100 West Old Wilson Bridge Road, 43085 Columbus, United States
- Phone
- 614 840 3462
- Website
- worthingtonsteel.com
- IPO Date
- 12/01/2023
- ISIN
- US9821041012
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| John B. Blystone | Executive Chairman | 1954 |
| Geoffrey G. Gilmore | CEO, President & Director | 1972 |
| Timothy A. Adams | VP & CFO | 1965 |
| Jeffrey R. Klingler M.D. | Executive VP & COO | 1972 |
| Clifford J. Larivey | President of Flat-Roll Steel Processing | 1974 |
| Gwen Elizabeth Joseph | Corporate Controller & Principal Accounting Officer | 1981 |
| William C. Wertz | VP & Chief Information Officer | – |
| Melissa H. Dykstra | Vice President of Corporate Communication & Investor Relations | – |
| Joseph Y. Heuer | VP, General Counsel & Secretary | 1977 |
| Nikki M. Ballinger | Vice President of Human Resources | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.