Commercial Metals vs Steel Dynamics
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The short version
- Steel Dynamics is the larger business, with $18.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $9.4B for Commercial Metals, about 1.9 times as much.
- Commercial Metals grew revenue faster (20.5%, against 3.6%).
- Commercial Metals turned more of its sales into free cash flow (5.1% FCF margin, against 2.8%).
- Commercial Metals earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (12.9%, against 10.0%).
| Latest fiscal year | CMC · FY26 | STLD · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $7.0B | $34.7B |
| Revenue | $9.4B | $18.2B |
| Free cash flow | $479M | $502M |
| Net income | $656M | $1.2B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 20.5% | 3.6% |
| 5-year growth | 6.9% | 13.6% |
| Share count change | −2.0% | −5.0% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 18.7% | 13.2% |
| Operating margin | — | 8.1% |
| Net margin | 7.0% | 6.5% |
| FCF margin | 5.1% | 2.8% |
| Return on capital | 12.9% | 10.0% |
| Return on equity | 14.8% | 13.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $2.6B | $3.4B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.2x | 1.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $187M | $1.2B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 17.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
Revenue
FY17
CMC $3.8B
STLD $9.5B
FY18
CMC $4.6B
STLD $11.8B
FY19
CMC $5.8B
STLD $10.5B
FY20
CMC $5.5B
STLD $9.6B
FY21
CMC $6.7B
STLD $18.4B
FY22
CMC $8.9B
STLD $22.3B
FY23
CMC $8.8B
STLD $18.8B
FY24
CMC $7.9B
STLD $17.5B
FY25
CMC $7.8B
STLD $18.2B
FY26
CMC $9.4B
STLD —
CMC
STLD
Operating margin
FY17
CMC —
STLD 11.2%
FY18
CMC —
STLD 14.6%
FY19
CMC —
STLD 9.4%
FY20
CMC —
STLD 8.8%
FY21
CMC —
STLD 23.4%
FY22
CMC —
STLD 22.9%
FY23
CMC —
STLD 16.8%
FY24
CMC —
STLD 11.1%
FY25
CMC —
STLD 8.1%
FY26
CMC —
STLD —
CMC
STLD
Free cash flow
FY17
CMC −$736M
STLD $574M
FY18
CMC −$609M
STLD $1.2B
FY19
CMC −$102M
STLD $944M
FY20
CMC $604M
STLD −$211M
FY21
CMC $44.3M
STLD $1.2B
FY22
CMC $250M
STLD $3.6B
FY23
CMC $737M
STLD $1.9B
FY24
CMC $575M
STLD −$23.5M
FY25
CMC $312M
STLD $502M
FY26
CMC $479M
STLD —
CMC
STLD
Return on capital
FY17
CMC 4.3%
STLD 20.8%
FY18
CMC 8.4%
STLD 27.7%
FY19
CMC 10.7%
STLD 15.1%
FY20
CMC 12.7%
STLD 12.5%
FY21
CMC 17.1%
STLD 47.8%
FY22
CMC 35.9%
STLD 47.1%
FY23
CMC 20.2%
STLD 26.3%
FY24
CMC 11.2%
STLD 14.5%
FY25
CMC 2.7%
STLD 10.0%
FY26
CMC 12.9%
STLD —
CMC
STLD
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.