FeedPosted Mar 15th 2011 9:30AM by Connie Madon (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Products and Services, Industry, U.S. Steel (X), Commodities
The crisis in Japan will require all sorts of construction materials for rebuilding destroyed buildings and factories. Steel is used in most construction projects. Here in the United States, U.S. Steel (X) is a dominant player.
Let's look at the company profile and earnings reports. "Based in Pittsburgh, the company operates mills throughout the Midwest, in Ontario, Canada, Serbia and Slovakia. The company makes semi finished steel, tubular and plate steel and tin products. Its annual production capacity is about 32 million tons of raw steel. The company's customers are from autos, chemical and steel service center industries."
Continue reading Will U.S. Steel Benefit as Japan Rebuilds?
Posted Mar 14th 2011 2:30PM by Trefis (RSS feed)
Filed under: U.S. Steel (X)
Our price estimate for U.S. Steel (X) stands at $60.17, roughly 15% ahead of market price. The company competes with international steel giants like ArcelorMittal (MT), BaoSteel, Posco, Nippon Steel and ThyssenKrupp. Below we recap U.S. Steel's full year 2010 results and examine how these numbers affect the road ahead for the company.
Understanding U.S. Steel's Performance in 2010
U.S. Steel reported revenues of $17.4 billion for 2010, an almost 60% increase from the $11 billion recorded in 2009. These figures are still below the peak of $23.8 billion in 2008 – before the steel industry felt the brunt of the global economic recession. The operations for the year, however, failed to generate a profit with $111 million in operating loss reported. But the fact that losses were in excess of $1.6 billion in 2009 shows that the company is recovering from the after-effects of the downturn.
Continue reading U.S. Steel Records Loss in 2010, but Good Times Lie Ahead
Posted Feb 15th 2011 11:30AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Chipotle Mexican Grill'A' (CMG), Family Dollar Stores (FDO), U.S. Steel (X), Analyst Initiations, salesforce.com inc (CRM)
Analyst Upgrades
- U.S. Steel (X) to buy from neutral and Barnes & Noble (BKS) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
- Salesforce.com (CRM) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
- Dollar Tree (DLTR) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
- Edison International (EIX) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
- Analog Devices (ADI) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
Continue reading Analyst Calls: ADI, BKS, CMG, CRM, DANG, DLTR, FDO, LLTC, NFLX, X ...
Posted Jan 19th 2011 3:00PM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Pfizer (PFE), Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), Comerica Inc (CMA), Merck and Co (MRK), U.S. Steel (X), Analyst Initiations
Analyst Upgrades
- Large Cap Pharmaceuticals sector upgraded to Overweight at Wells Fargo.
- Archer Daniels (ADM) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
- Cypress Semi (CY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
- MFA Financial (MFA) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
- Blackstone (BX) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
- Comerica (CMA) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.
- Dollar Tree (DLTR) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
- NuVasive (NUVA) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Leerink.
- Cogdell Spencer (CSA) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
- Hersha Hospitality (HT) upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.
- G&K Services (GKSR) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at RW Baird.
- Graham Packaging (GRM) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
- Shaw (SJR) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BofA/Merrill.
Continue reading Analyst Calls: ADM, BX, BZH, CMA, DLTR, MRK, NE, PFE, X ...
Posted Jan 13th 2011 11:20AM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: U.S. Steel (X), Marathon Oil (MRO)
To continue to grow, many companies have little choice but to spend large amounts on acquisitions. But at a certain point, the operations get too complicated and bloated. The solution? Yes, it's to unwind the deals. Often, Wall Street will be enthusiastic. Just look at Wednesday's announcement from conglomerate ITT (ITT). On news of its plan to split into three publicly traded companies, the shares spiked 16%.
In fact, this may actually be the start of a key trend for 2011. After all, early Thursday Marathon Oil (MRO) announced that it will spin-off its refining and sales operations as a public company (the deal should be closed on June 30). In early trading, the company's shares were up about 10%.
Continue reading Marathon Oil to Spin Off Refining Operations
Posted Sep 20th 2010 11:30AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, AT and T (T), Best Buy (BBY), Research in Motion (RIMM), U.S. Steel (X), Nucor Corp (NUE), Analyst Initiations, Freep't McMoRan Copper (FCX)
Analyst Upgrades
- Credit Suisse upgraded AT&T (T) to outperform from neutral and has a $35 target on the stock. Credit Suisse believes the impact from AT&T's loss of iPhone exclusivity will be less than expected and that the stock should benefit from its earnings growth and dividend yield.
- Goldman upgraded Freeport McMoRan (FCX) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $94 from $79 based on improving copper fundamentals.
- Benchmark Co. upgraded Valueclick (VCLK) to vuy from hold on expectations Google Instant (GOOG) could drive marketing traffic. The firm raised its target price for Valueclick shares to $15 from $11.
- Best Buy (BBY) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
- Research In Motion (RIMM) was upgraded to buy from sell at Societe Generale.
- CarMax (KMX) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
Continue reading Analyst Calls: BBY, FCX, KMX, NUE, PRGS, RIMM, T, USG, VCLK, X ...
Posted Aug 19th 2010 8:30AM by Paul Foster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), U.S. Steel (X), Options

U.S. Steel (
X) closed up $2.27 to $49.59 Wednesday. X September
put option implied volatility is at 56, October is at 54, January is at 53, versus its six-month average of 52. X
call option volume of 201K contracts compares to put volume of 61K contracts, according to Track Data.
Hewlett-Packard (
HPQ) is expected to report Q3
EPS on August 19. HPQ August 41 straddle is at $1.21, November is at $5.19. September
put option implied volatility is at 31, November is at 33; above its 26-week average of 28 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.
Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.
Posted Aug 18th 2010 4:30PM by Jon Ogg (RSS feed)
Filed under: Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), U.S. Steel (X), Suntech Power Hldgs ADS (STP), Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT)

Today was soft on solid economic data, and a conflicting oil report this morning versus last night only added more confusion. A rally came on in the afternoon and the markets appeared to all manage to hold on to very small gains at the closing bell.
Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow Jones 10,415.54 +9.69 (0.09%)
S&P 500 1,094.16 +1.62 (0.15%)
Nasdaq 2,215.70 +6.26 (0.28%)
Top Analyst CallsContinue reading Closing Bell: Squeaking By (NFLX, POT, BHP, X, BZH, STP)
Posted Jul 27th 2010 4:30PM by Jon Ogg (RSS feed)
Filed under: BP p.l.c. ADS (BP), U.S. Steel (X), Valero Energy (VLO)

This was another day where the real closing verdict of red or black was unknown right up until the closing bell. The day looked very mixed from index to index and sector to sector. Consumer confidence came in weak again, and there is still mixed data on housing prices.
Here were today's closing bell levels:
Dow Jones 10,537.69 +12.26 (0.12%)
S&P 500 1,113.84 -1.17 (-0.10%)
Nasdaq 2,288.25 -8.18 (-0.36%)
Continue reading Closing Bell: Official Win, but Mixed Bag (BP, DPZ, X, VLO, RF, RMBS, NBG)
Posted Jul 27th 2010 1:00PM by Brent Archer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major Movement, Earnings Reports, Good news, U.S. Steel (X), Options, Technical Analysis

US Steel (
X -
option chain) stock is trading lower today after
the company reported Q2 2010 earnings this morning, posting a loss of $25 million, or 17 cents per share. Excluding one-time items, X earned 45 cents per share on revenue of $4.68 billion. Analysts had forecast a profit of 63 cents per share on revenue of $4.63 billion. The company said it expects to return to profitability in the third quarter. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on X.
This morning, X opened at $47.70. So far today the stock has hit a high of $70.95 and a low of $33.25. As of 12:05, X is trading at $45.98, down $2.91 (-5.9%). The chart for X looks bullish and
S&P gives X a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.
Continue reading US Steel Tanks After Q2 Loss
Posted Jun 11th 2010 11:30AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Walgreen Co (WAG), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), U.S. Steel (X), Analyst Initiations, Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF)
Analyst Upgrades
- Barclays upgraded GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to overweight from equal weight and said investor concerns regarding Advair and Avandia are overdone.
- Leerink upgraded Bristol-Myers (BMY) to outperform from market perform, citing management's pipeline execution. Shares were also upgraded at Citigroup this morning to buy from hold.
- Goldman upgraded Medco Health (MHS) to buy from neutral and raised its price target on shares to $76 from $67. The firm cites valuation and expectations that earnings will accelerate in 2H10 driven by a stronger generic outlook.
- U.S. Steel (X) was upgraded to neutral from sell at UBS.
- Blyth (BTH) was upgraded to hold from underperform at Jefferies.
- IPC The Hospitalist Co. (IPCM) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
Continue reading Analyst Calls: BMY, FSLR, GSK, LGF, MHS, PVH, SAI, SU, WAG, X ...
Posted Jun 4th 2010 11:00AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, McDonald's (MCD), Yum Brands (YUM), U.S. Steel (X), Analyst Initiations
Analyst Upgrades
- Weeden upgraded Nabors Industries (NBR) to buy from hold on expectations that U.S. land drillers will likely benefit from a more restrictive deepwater Gulf of Mexico drilling environment.
- Macquarie upgraded Cinemark (CNK) to outperform from neutral and has a $20 price target on the stock. The firm cites valuation, market share stabilization and Latin American pricing power.
- RBC Capital upgraded Edison International (EIX) to outperform from sector perform with a $43 target. The firm cited valuation and its belief that the company's unregulated businesses are well-positioned to accelerate as reasons for the upgrade.
- Canadian Pacific (CP) was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
- FirstEnergy (FE) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.
- Joy Global (JOYG) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Longbow.
Continue reading Analyst Calls: CNK, CP, EIX, FL, MCD, NBR, NE, NLC, STP, X, YUM ...
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