Insteel Industries Reports Second Quarter 2025 Results

Rhea-AI Summary

Insteel Industries (NYSE: IIIN), the largest U.S. manufacturer of steel wire reinforcing products for concrete construction, reported strong Q2 2025 results. Net earnings increased to $10.2 million ($0.52 per diluted share) from $6.9 million ($0.35 per share) year-over-year.

Net sales grew 26.1% to $160.7 million, driven by a 28.9% increase in shipments, despite a 2.2% decline in average selling prices. Gross margin expanded to 15.3% from 12.3% last year. The company maintains a strong financial position with $28.4 million in cash and no debt.

Recent acquisitions contributed to incremental volume growth, while restructuring charges and acquisition costs reduced earnings by $0.03 per share. The company expects capital expenditures of up to $17 million in fiscal 2025, focusing on cost and productivity improvements.

Positive

• Net earnings increased 47.8% to $10.2 million in Q2 2025
• Net sales grew 26.1% to $160.7 million
• Shipments increased 28.9% year-over-year
• Gross margin expanded 300 basis points to 15.3%
• Strong balance sheet with $28.4 million cash and no debt

Negative

• 2.2% decline in average selling prices
• Operating activities used $3.3 million cash vs. generating $1.4 million last year
• Restructuring charges and acquisition costs reduced earnings by $0.03 per share
• Working capital used $21.9 million due to increased receivables

Insights

Financial Analyst

Insteel delivers strong Q2 with 48.6% EPS growth, margin expansion to 15.3%, and positive market momentum despite tariff uncertainty.

Insteel Industries has posted impressive financial results for Q2 2025, with net earnings jumping 47.3% to $10.2 million ($0.52 per diluted share) compared to $6.9 million ($0.35 per share) in Q2 2024. This substantial improvement came despite $0.7 million in restructuring and acquisition costs that reduced EPS by $0.03.

Revenue performance was equally strong, with net sales surging 26.1% to $160.7 million, driven primarily by a 28.9% increase in shipment volume, partially offset by a slight 2.2% decline in average selling prices. The sequential improvement is particularly encouraging, with shipments up 17.9% and average selling prices increasing 5.1% from Q1 2025.

Profitability metrics show substantial improvement, as gross margin expanded 300 basis points to 15.3% from 12.3% year-over-year. This margin growth reflects the benefits of higher production volumes lowering unit manufacturing costs, coupled with contributions from recent acquisitions.

The balance sheet remains exceptionally strong with zero debt and $28.4 million in cash, although this represents a significant reduction from $111.5 million at fiscal year-end, primarily due to $71.5 million used for acquisitions. This strategic deployment of capital appears to be yielding immediate returns through increased shipment volumes and improved margins.

Working capital management warrants attention, as operating activities used $3.3 million of cash during Q2 compared to generating $1.4 million in the prior year period. This shift primarily stems from a $30.3 million increase in receivables, reflecting the substantial growth in sales volumes.

Industrial Sector Specialist

Insteel's market recovery accelerates with 28.9% shipment growth amid positive construction demand and mixed tariff impacts.

The second quarter results reveal a significant acceleration in construction market demand for Insteel's concrete reinforcement products. The 28.9% surge in shipments significantly outpaces broader construction industry metrics, suggesting Insteel is capturing market share or serving particularly resilient construction segments.

Management's commentary indicates a disconnect between their positive business conditions and broader macroeconomic construction indices, which is noteworthy. This suggests either Insteel's specific market segments (concrete reinforcement) are outperforming general construction, or the company's recent acquisitions are driving disproportionate growth.

The tariff situation creates a complex operating environment but appears to be a net positive for Insteel. The expansion of Section 232 steel tariffs to derivative products (including PC strand) eliminates what management described as a "significant competitive disadvantage" created in 2018. This change should reduce low-priced import competition in the PC strand market.

However, the restoration of Section 232 steel tariffs on shipments from Canada and Mexico will increase raw material costs, and announced capacity reductions in US steel wire rod production will further constrain supply. While this presents cost challenges, Insteel's status as market leader likely provides pricing power to pass these increases to customers.

The company's capital expenditure strategy has shifted, with H1 2025 capex of $4.9 million representing only 34.5% of the $14.2 million spent in H1 2024. However, the projected $17 million full-year capex indicates a significant ramp-up in the second half, focused on cost reduction and productivity improvement initiatives – critical investments given the rising cost environment.

The cautiously positive market outlook through summer and fall, combined with demonstrated sequential improvement (Q2 vs Q1), suggests momentum is building rather than slowing, providing a favorable trajectory for the remainder of fiscal 2025.

MOUNT AIRY, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Insteel Industries Inc. (NYSE: IIIN) (“Insteel” or the “Company”), the largest manufacturer of steel wire reinforcing products for concrete construction applications in the United States, today reported financial results for its second quarter of fiscal 2025, ended March 29, 2025.

Second Quarter 2025 Highlights

• Net earnings of $10.2 million, or $0.52 per diluted share
• Net sales of $160.7 million
• Gross profit of $24.5 million, or 15.3% of net sales
• Net cash balance of $28.4 million and no debt outstanding as of March 29, 2025
• Improving customer demand and cautiously positive market outlook

Second Quarter 2025 Results

Net earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 rose to $10.2 million, or $0.52 per diluted share, from $6.9 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, in the same period a year ago. The results for the current quarter include $0.7 million in restructuring charges and acquisition-related costs, which collectively reduced net earnings per share by $0.03. Insteel’s second quarter results benefited from recovering demand for the Company’s concrete reinforcement products along with lower unit manufacturing costs on higher production volume, partially offset by an increase in selling, general and administrative expense.

Net sales increased 26.1% to $160.7 million from $127.4 million in the prior-year quarter, driven by a 28.9% increase in shipments, partially offset by a 2.2% decline in average selling prices. The rise in shipments was driven by strengthening demand in our construction end markets, along with incremental volume from our first-quarter acquisitions. Sequentially, shipments grew 17.9% from the first quarter, while average selling prices rose 5.1%. Gross margin expanded by 300 basis points to 15.3%, from 12.3% in the same quarter last year, reflecting higher shipment volumes, lower unit manufacturing costs, and contributions from our recent acquisitions.

Operating activities used $3.3 million of cash during the quarter compared to generating $1.4 million in the prior year quarter, primarily due to the relative changes in net working capital. Net working capital used $21.9 million in the current quarter, driven by an increase in receivables, compared to using $10.5 million in the prior year quarter.

Six Month 2025 Results

Net earnings for the first six months of fiscal 2025 increased to $11.3 million, or $0.58 per share, from $8.1 million, or $0.41 per share, in the same period a year ago. Insteel’s earnings for the current year period reflect $1.7 million of restructuring charges and acquisition-related costs, which collectively reduced net earnings per share by $0.07. Net sales increased to $290.4 million from $249.1 million for the prior year period, driven by a 20.2% increase in shipments partially offset by a 3.1% decrease in average selling prices. Gross profit increased to $34.1 million from $22.0 million in the same period a year ago, and gross margin widened to 11.7% from 8.8% due primarily to higher shipment volumes, lower unit manufacturing costs, improved spreads and contributions from our recent acquisitions.

Capital Allocation and Liquidity

Capital expenditures for the first six months of fiscal 2025 decreased to $4.9 million from $14.2 million in the comparable prior year period. Capital outlays for fiscal 2025 are expected to total up to approximately $17.0 million, primarily focused on cost and productivity improvement initiatives as well as recurring maintenance requirements.

Insteel ended the quarter with $28.4 million of cash and no borrowings outstanding on its $100.0 million revolving credit facility.

Outlook

“We are encouraged by the strengthening demand for our products that began during our first quarter,” said H.O. Woltz III, President and CEO of Insteel. “The positive momentum we experienced through our second fiscal quarter was driven by improving business conditions and rising customer confidence, trends that are not fully reflected in the broader macroeconomic indices generally used to measure the strength of the construction industry. It is important to note that our results, and my comments, reflect conditions we experienced prior to the recent turmoil created by the changing tariff policy of the Trump Administration. Nevertheless, as we move into the second half of fiscal 2025, we are encouraged by the pace of activity in our markets and believe it is likely to continue through the summer and into the fall.

“A beneficial aspect for Insteel of the Trump Administration’s recent tariff actions was the expansion of the Section 232 steel tariff to derivative products, including PC strand, which eliminated the significant competitive disadvantage that the Section 232 tariff created for Insteel in 2018. This important development should reduce the adverse impact of low-priced PC strand imports within the U.S. market.”

Mr. Woltz continued, “At the same time, the Section 232 steel tariff was restored for shipments to the US from Canada and Mexico. Costs will rise in the US as a result of this action and, together with the impact of several steel wire rod capacity reductions that have been announced in the US, North American supplies will be severely curtailed. Significantly, however, because we have lived with the Section 232 steel tariff for many years, we view the impact of the Administration’s recent actions as positive for the Company since the Section 232 tariff was expanded to derivative products, and steel is generally not subject to reciprocal tariffs. We are assessing the potential impact of reciprocal tariffs on offshore purchases of capital equipment, spare parts and operating supplies. It is clear, however, that the possible imposition of these new tariffs would cause costs to rise substantially. This new environment requires a disciplined approach to pricing and that we manage our tariff exposure to every extent possible.”

Conference Call

Insteel will hold a conference call at 10:00 a.m. ET today to discuss its second quarter financial results. A live webcast of this call can be accessed on Insteel’s website at https://investor.insteel.com and will be archived for replay.

About Insteel

Insteel is the nation’s largest manufacturer of steel wire reinforcing products for concrete construction applications. Insteel manufactures and markets prestressed concrete strand and welded wire reinforcement, including engineered structural mesh (“ESM”), concrete pipe reinforcement and standard welded wire reinforcement. Insteel’s products are sold primarily to manufacturers of concrete products and concrete contractors for use, primarily, in nonresidential construction applications. Headquartered in Mount Airy, North Carolina, Insteel operates eleven manufacturing facilities located in the United States.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this news release, the words “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “estimates,” “appears,” “plans,” “intends,” “may,” “should,” “could” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although we believe that our plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are subject to several risks and uncertainties, and we can provide no assurances that such plans, intentions or expectations will be implemented or achieved. Many of these risks and uncertainties are discussed in detail in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 28, 2024 and may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. All forward-looking statements speak only to the respective dates on which such statements are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect any future events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events, except as may be required by law.

It is not possible to anticipate and list all risks and uncertainties that may affect our business, future operations or financial performance; however, they include, but are not limited to, the following: general economic and competitive conditions in the markets in which we operate, including uncertainty over global trade policies and the financial impact of related tariffs and retaliatory tariffs; changes in the spending levels for nonresidential and residential construction and the impact on demand for our products; changes in the amount and duration of transportation funding provided by federal, state and local governments and the impact on spending for infrastructure construction and demand for our products; the cyclical nature of the steel and building material industries; credit market conditions and the relative availability of financing for us, our customers and the construction industry as a whole; the impact of rising interest rates on the cost of financing for our customers; fluctuations in the cost and availability of our primary raw material, hot-rolled carbon steel wire rod, from domestic and foreign suppliers; competitive pricing pressures and our ability to raise selling prices in order to recover increases in raw material or operating costs; changes in United States or foreign trade policy affecting imports or exports of steel wire rod or our products; unanticipated changes in customer demand, order patterns and inventory levels; the impact of fluctuations in demand and capacity utilization levels on our unit manufacturing costs; our ability to further develop the market for ESM and expand our shipments of ESM; legal, environmental, economic or regulatory developments that significantly impact our business or operating costs; unanticipated plant outages, equipment failures or labor difficulties; the impact of cybersecurity breaches and data leaks: and the “Risk Factors” discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 28, 2024, and in other filings made by us with the SEC.

INSTEEL INDUSTRIES INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In thousands except for per share data)
(Unaudited)
		Three Months Ended								Six Months Ended
		March 29,				March 30,				March 29,				March 30,
		2025				2024				2025				2024
Net sales		$	160,656			$	127,394			$	290,376			$	249,119
Cost of sales			136,127				111,679				256,318				227,134
Gross profit			24,529				15,715				34,058				21,985
Selling, general and administrative expense			10,800				7,875				18,687				14,242
Restructuring charges, net			662				-				1,358				-
Acquisition costs			27				-				298				-
Other expense (income), net			18				9				4				(13	)
Interest expense			13				28				26				57
Interest income			(316	)			(1,147	)			(1,102	)			(2,806	)
Earnings before income taxes			13,325				8,950				14,787				10,505
Income taxes			3,095				2,011				3,476				2,434
Net earnings		$	10,230			$	6,939			$	11,311			$	8,071
Net earnings per share:
Basic		$	0.53			$	0.36			$	0.58			$	0.41
Diluted			0.52				0.35				0.58				0.41
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic			19,482				19,508				19,490				19,503
Diluted			19,529				19,594				19,539				19,584
Cash dividends declared per share		$	0.03			$	0.03			$	1.06			$	2.56

INSTEEL INDUSTRIES INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands)
		(Unaudited)												(Unaudited)
		March 29,				December 28,				September 28,				March 30,
		2025				2024				2024				2024
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents		$	28,424			$	35,951			$	111,538			$	83,945
Accounts receivable, net			79,792				49,442				58,308				55,549
Inventories			96,033				98,670				88,840				92,530
Other current assets			6,536				8,422				8,608				7,675
Total current assets			210,785				192,485				267,294				239,699
Property, plant and equipment, net			133,944				136,379				125,540				127,534
Intangibles, net			17,514				17,998				5,341				5,716
Goodwill			37,755				35,641				9,745				9,745
Other assets			21,862				22,196				14,632				14,533
Total assets		$	421,860			$	404,699			$	422,552			$	397,227
Liabilities and shareholders' equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable		$	42,998			$	36,724			$	37,487			$	25,409
Accrued expenses			11,427				10,360				9,547				7,975
Total current liabilities			54,425				47,084				47,034				33,384
Other liabilities			26,022				25,965				24,663				23,222
Commitments and contingencies
Shareholders' equity:
Common stock			19,412				19,431				19,452				19,467
Additional paid-in capital			87,959				86,919				86,671				85,332
Retained earnings			234,650				225,908				245,340				236,105
Accumulated other comprehensive loss			(608	)			(608	)			(608	)			(283	)
Total shareholders' equity			341,413				331,650				350,855				340,621
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity		$	421,860			$	404,699			$	422,552			$	397,227

INSTEEL INDUSTRIES INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)
		Three Months Ended								Six Months Ended
		March 29,				March 30,				March 29,				March 30,
		2025				2024				2025				2024
Cash Flows From Operating Activities:
Net earnings		$	10,230			$	6,939			$	11,311			$	8,071
Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash (used for) provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization			4,603				3,866				9,032				7,575
Amortization of capitalized financing costs			13				13				26				26
Stock-based compensation expense			1,343				997				1,688				1,395
Deferred income taxes			(770	)			(579	)			7				2,769
Asset impairment charges			320				-				593				-
Loss on sale and disposition of property, plant and equipment			31				24				34				24
Increase in cash surrender value of life insurance policies over premiums paid			-				(383	)			-				(1,058	)
Net changes in assets and liabilities (net of assets and liabilities acquired):
Accounts receivable, net			(30,350	)			(12,195	)			(21,484	)			7,875
Inventories			2,637				1,612				5,277				10,776
Accounts payable and accrued expenses			5,823				62				6,577				(12,859	)
Other changes			2,802				1,021				2,604				(1,383	)
Total adjustments			(13,548	)			(5,562	)			4,354				15,140
Net cash (used for) provided by operating activities			(3,318	)			1,377				15,665				23,211
Cash Flows From Investing Activities:
Acquisition of businesses			-				-				(71,456	)			-
Capital expenditures			(2,226	)			(1,957	)			(4,893	)			(14,225	)
Increase in cash surrender value of life insurance policies			(240	)			(247	)			(56	)			(369	)
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment			37				-				37				3
Proceeds from surrender of life insurance policies			30				-				30				5
Net cash used for investing activities			(2,399	)			(2,204	)			(76,338	)			(14,586	)
Cash Flows From Financing Activities:
Proceeds from long-term debt			66				67				135				134
Principal payments on long-term debt			(66	)			(67	)			(135	)			(134	)
Cash dividends paid			(582	)			(584	)			(20,596	)			(49,775	)
Payment of employee tax withholdings related to net share transactions			(103	)			(141	)			(103	)			(161	)
Cash received from exercise of stock options			-				185				-				428
Repurchases of common stock			(1,125	)			(303	)			(1,742	)			(842	)
Net cash used for financing activities			(1,810	)			(843	)			(22,441	)			(50,350	)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents			(7,527	)			(1,670	)			(83,114	)			(41,725	)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period			35,951				85,615				111,538				125,670
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period		$	28,424			$	83,945			$	28,424			$	83,945
Supplemental Disclosures of Cash Flow Information:
Cash paid during the period for:
Income taxes, net		$	237			$	716			$	277			$	724
Non-cash investing and financing activities:
Purchases of property, plant and equipment in accounts payable			1,618				1,824				1,618				1,824
Restricted stock units and stock options surrendered for withholding taxes payable			103				141				103				161
Accrued liability related to holdback for business acquired			657				-				657				-

IIIN – E

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250417488738/en/

Scot Jafroodi

Vice President,

Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

Insteel Industries Inc.

(336) 786-2141

Source: Insteel Industries Inc.

FAQ

What was Insteel Industries (IIIN) earnings per share in Q2 2025?

Insteel reported earnings of $0.52 per diluted share in Q2 2025, up from $0.35 per share in Q2 2024.

How much did Insteel's (IIIN) net sales increase in Q2 2025?

Net sales increased 26.1% to $160.7 million from $127.4 million in the prior-year quarter.

What is Insteel's (IIIN) current cash position and debt status?

As of March 29, 2025, Insteel had $28.4 million in cash and no debt outstanding on its $100.0 million revolving credit facility.

What drove Insteel's (IIIN) shipment growth in Q2 2025?

Shipments grew 28.9% due to strengthening demand in construction end markets and incremental volume from first-quarter acquisitions.

What are Insteel's (IIIN) capital expenditure plans for fiscal 2025?

Capital expenditures for fiscal 2025 are expected to total up to $17.0 million, focusing on cost and productivity improvements and maintenance.