Universal Stainless & Alloy reports Q4 EPS 27c vs. (41c) last year

Reports Q4 revenue $79.8M vs. $56.2M last year. CEO Christopher Zimmer commented: “Q4 capped a year of increasing momentum for Universal, with sales up 42% for the year to a record $286M, and gross margin improving steadily each quarter in 2024 to reach 16.4% of sales in Q4. Our strategic focus on higher margin premium and specialty alloys is gaining full traction enabling us to meet robust and sustainable demand in the aerospace market — evidenced by the 74% increase in our premium alloy sales in 2023 and 57% higher aerospace sales for the year…The main drivers of our improving profitability in 2023 were a richer product mix and the benefit of price increases implemented over the past three years, which were partially offset by negative surcharge misalignment due to falling commodity prices. The misalignment is expected to lessen by the end of Q2 of 2024. We have entered 2024 with a strong book of business, with premium alloys representing more than a third of our backlog, and with robust demand continuing unabated in aerospace. We remain firmly on-track with our strategic plan and growth trajectory for 2024 and beyond.”