# Commercial Metals (CMC): Q4 sales up 25.7% and adjusted profit per share up 53% as steel prices and a precast deal lift results

> Commercial Metals, a US maker of steel reinforcing bar and related construction products, reported sales of $2.66bn for its fiscal fourth quarter, up…

- URL: https://centiview.com/post/commercial-metals-cmc-q4-sales-up-25-7-and-adjusted-profit-per-share-up-53-as-steel-prices-and-a-precast-deal-lift-results
- Published: 2026-10-19T05:20:00.000Z
- Sectors: Energy & Commodities
- Region: US
- Ticker: CMC
- Sentiment (opinion, not a recommendation): bullish
- Publisher: Centiview (Persie Ltd, London)
- General information only, not financial advice

Commercial Metals, a US maker of steel reinforcing bar and related construction products, reported sales of $2.66bn for its fiscal fourth quarter, up 25.7% from a year earlier. Adjusted profit per share rose 52.6% to $2.09, helped by higher steel prices, a big acquisition and a lower tax rate. Its precast concrete business fell short of management's own expectations.

## What happened

On 15 October 2026 Commercial Metals Company (CMC) published results for the quarter ended 31 August 2026, the last quarter of its fiscal year, in a filing with the US securities regulator (an 8-K, the form used to report important events). CMC recycles scrap metal in electric furnaces and rolls it into products such as rebar, the steel rods that reinforce concrete in buildings and roads. It reports three businesses: the North America Steel Group, the Construction Solutions Group (which includes the precast concrete and Tensar businesses) and the Europe Steel Group.

The company said the year was shaped by the purchase of two precast concrete businesses, Foley Products and Concrete Pipe and Precast, which make factory-cast concrete parts such as pipe sections. Over the full fiscal year CMC spent $2,516m on acquisitions and raised about $1,985m of new long-term debt, so total debt rose to $3,372m. Management said the precast business fell below its prior expectations in the quarter, mainly because of regional softness in house building. All figures below are in US dollars, for the three months to 31 August 2026, unless stated.

## The numbers, explained

Net sales, the total billed to customers, were $2,658.3m against $2,114.5m a year earlier. That is a rise of $543.8m, or 25.7% (543.8 divided by 2,114.5), and 7.1% above the $2,483.2m of the previous quarter. Net earnings under US accounting rules (GAAP) were $212.5m, up 40.0% from $151.8m, or $1.91 per diluted share (profit divided by all shares that could exist once options are counted) versus $1.35, up 41.5%. The company also reports adjusted figures that strip out one-off items: adjusted earnings were $233.6m, or $2.09 a share, up 52.6% from $1.37. Adjusted figures are the company's own definition, not an accounting standard.

Part of the gain came from tax. Income tax expense fell to $17.0m from $41.5m. Adding tax back to net earnings gives profit before tax of about $229.5m this year and $193.2m last year, so the effective tax rate was roughly 7.4% against 21.5% (our calculation). Profit before tax grew about 18.8%, much less than the 40% rise in net earnings. Core EBITDA, a profit measure before interest, tax, depreciation and some other items, rose 35.1% to $393.7m from $291.4m, and its margin (core EBITDA divided by sales) rose from 13.8% to 14.8%.

The steel business shows the mechanics. In North America, steel products sold for an average of $1,021 a ton against $882 (up 15.8%), while the scrap it buys cost $369 against $314 (up 17.5%). The gap that matters, the metal margin per ton that the company reports, widened from $568 to $652. North America Steel adjusted EBITDA rose 32.6% to $317.5m, a 16.4% margin. Shipments of merchant bar, a general-purpose steel product, rose 27.5% to 311,000 tons, while rebar shipments fell 6.8% to 507,000 tons (our calculation). The Construction Solutions Group more than doubled its adjusted EBITDA (up 100.9% to $101.7m) because of the acquisitions, while the Europe Steel Group's adjusted EBITDA fell from $39.1m to $15.6m. The prior-year quarter included a $30.7m carbon-dioxide credit that did not recur.

## Why it matters

CMC earns money from the spread between what it charges for steel and what it pays for scrap and energy, and from fabricating and installing finished construction products. That makes it a read-through for building activity: rebar goes into infrastructure, warehouses and commercial projects. This quarter prices rose faster in dollar terms than scrap costs, so the spread widened. The company reports that its backlog of downstream orders (work already contracted) was up 5.0% from the previous quarter and 15.5% from a year ago, which suggests demand for fabricated products had not faded as of 31 August.

The quarter also shows the cost of changing the business. Debt is now much larger than before the acquisitions, though CMC states that its net leverage, adjusted to include a full year of the acquired earnings, is 1.9 times against its target of below 2 times. We computed net debt as total debt of $3,372.2m minus cash of $775.7m, or $2,596.6m. Operating cash flow for the full year was $1,059.0m, up 48.1% from $715.1m, and capital spending was $579.8m, leaving about $479.1m in between (our calculation). For rivals, a wider metal margin and firm pricing show that US rebar producers had room to pass on costs; the weaker precast result is a reminder that housing-linked demand is uneven.

## What to watch next

CMC declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 a share on 13 October 2026, payable on 11 November 2026 to holders on record at 28 October 2026. For the first quarter of fiscal 2027 (September to November), the company says it expects North America Steel adjusted EBITDA to be nearly flat compared with this quarter, Construction Solutions to be lower on seasonal patterns, and Europe Steel to grow meaningfully with the help of a carbon-dioxide credit. These are the company's own expectations, not ours. A second line at its Galvabar operation is due to be commissioned later in calendar 2026, and CMC had $702.1m left in its share-buyback authorization at year end. The filing does not give a date for the next results. We make no forecast about any result.

- EBITDA: profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, a rough measure of operating profit.
- Metal margin: the selling price of steel minus the cost of the scrap used to make it, per ton.
- Precast concrete: concrete parts cast in a factory and delivered to a building site.

> **Why it matters** CMC turns scrap into rebar and builds construction products, so its results hint at demand from building and infrastructure. Steel pricing and acquisitions lifted profit this quarter, but a lower tax rate helped too, and the new precast business was below plan.

> **What we verified** From CMC's 8-K earnings release dated 15 Oct 2026 (quarter to 31 Aug 2026, USD): net sales $2,658.3m vs $2,114.5m (+25.7%) and $2,483.2m in Q3; GAAP net earnings $212.5m vs $151.8m; diluted EPS $1.91 vs $1.35; adjusted EPS $2.09 vs $1.37 (company-defined); core EBITDA $393.7m vs $291.4m, margin 14.8% vs 13.8%; North America metal margin $652 vs $568 per ton; Construction Solutions adjusted EBITDA $101.7m (+100.9%); total debt $3,372.2m, cash $775.7m; dividend $0.20. Finviz and a republished copy of the company release on Trivano confirm sales, EPS, core EBITDA and segment figures. Finviz cites consensus of $2.56bn revenue and $1.96 adjusted EPS (analyst estimates; another provider showed $1.99). Percentages, tax rates, net debt and free-cash arithmetic are our own calculations.

### Sources
- [CMC fourth quarter and fiscal 2026 results (SEC 8-K earnings release, 15 Oct 2026)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000022444/000002244426000053/cmc-8312026xearningsreleas.htm)
- [Commercial Metals shares rise nearly 4% as Q4 earnings and revenue beat expectations (Finviz)](https://finviz.com/news/403028/commercial-metals-shares-rise-nearly-4-as-q4-earnings-and-revenue-beat-expectations)
- [CMC reports fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2026 results (Trivano, republished release)](https://www.trivano.com/persbericht/cmc-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-fiscal-2026-results-767691.html)