After reporting huge sales and profit growth the past year, and with infrastructure upgrades among the top items on the federal government's budget, the IBD SmartSelect Composite Rating for United States Steel climbed to 97 Monday, up from 92 the day before and just a tad below the best-possible 99 Composite Rating. U.S. Steel stock rose Monday.
The new score shows that U.S. Steel stock is now outperforming 97% of all stocks in terms of the most important fundamental and technical stock-picking criteria. Market research shows top market performers tend to have a 95 or higher score as they launch their major climbs.
U.S. Steel Stock Climbs Amid Surging Profits
In Q4, the company reported 1,448% earnings growth, to $3.64 per share. That marks two straight quarters of rising EPS performance. Its EPS rose 226% and 543% during that time. Revenue grew 119% last quarter to $5.62 billion. The prior two periods its sales grew 140% and 155%.
U.S. Steel stock is currently forming a consolidation, with a 28.46 buy point. See if the stock can break out in heavy trade at least 40% above average. Its stock rose 493% from a Covid market low 4.94 in late March 2020 to 26.92 Monday afternoon, up fractionally for the day.
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One weak spot is the company's 71 EPS Rating, which tracks quarterly and annual earnings-per-share growth. Look for that to improve to 80 or better amid recent strong profit growth, to show it's in the top 20% of all stocks.
U.S. Steel's Accumulation/Distribution Rating of D shows moderate selling by institutional investors over the last 13 weeks. Look for the rating to improve to at least a C or better.
U.S. Steel stock holds the No. 3 rank among its peers in the Steel-Producers industry group. Nucor is the No. 1-ranked stock in the group. Grupo Simec and Tenaris are also among the top-five ranked in the group.
