Acerinox shares yesterday led the opposite to a bearish session in Europe for the basic resources sector as they reflected the improvement of perspectives of one of its rivals. Outokumpu, a firm also dedicated to stainless steel, publicly acknowledged that it expects a better third quarter than previously estimated, with an ebitda (gross profit) higher than the second quarter of the year -before it expected to equal these figures- thanks to increases in the price of steel .
Following this news, Jefferies analysts published a note stating that this “improved guidance supports the reading that something very similar will occur in other steel manufacturers such as Acerinox and Aperam.” “Although Outokumpu does not specify where the price increase it is talking about has occurred, it may be in the US, in Europe or in both regions, what we have seen is a trend of rising prices in both markets throughout September “, they conclude.
Acerinox shares rose 2.3% and closed the session at 11.83 euros per share, which implies reaching new highs not seen since 2006, before the outbreak of the Lehman Brothers financial crisis.
The profits of Aperam, a subsidiary of ArcelorMittal, registered a revaluation of 1.9% and the great protagonist of the sector, the Finnish Outokumpu, closed with a rise of 4.79%, in its highest intraday increase since May. The European sector, on the other hand, fell 0.74% this Tuesday. In the last year, the revaluation of Acerinox on the stock market doubles that of the European sector of basic resources, with an advance of almost 80%.
In the two weeks of the month of October, twelve analysis houses have revised their valuation of Acerinox, of which nine see the firm above 15 euros per title. Its target price is already at 15.69 euros, with a potential of 33%.