SSAB operating profit reaches 2,157 million kronor, beating analyst forecasts despite share decline
Key Facts
Sweden’s SSAB reported operating profit of 2,157 million Swedish kronor in the third quarter of 2026, compared with 1,869 million a year earlier, beating the average forecast of 2.14 billion kronor. The company attributed the improvement to higher prices and increased shipments, while revenue reached 25,632 million kronor, against 22,960 million in the third quarter of 2025. Earnings per share were 1.56 kronor, compared with 1.49 kronor a year earlier. But the stronger year-over-year performance did not prevent the shares from falling after the results, as investors focused on the company’s guidance for the next quarter. Reuters reported that analysts at Jefferies and JPMorgan described the fourth-quarter guidance as weak.
Revenue and operating profit were below their levels in the second quarter of 2026, when revenue was 27,489 million kronor and operating profit was 2,695 million. Before the third quarter, SSAB had forecast a seasonal slowdown in demand and said implemented price increases would support somewhat higher realized prices. Planned maintenance costs, meanwhile, rose to 810 million kronor in the third quarter, from 390 million in the same period a year earlier. The company said its annual planned maintenance work would be completed during the fourth quarter. This put the third quarter’s improvement in prices and shipments alongside a heavier maintenance burden, with results down from the previous quarter.
The company linked the improvement in the European steel market to new trade measures that took effect on 1 July 2026. The CEO said SSAB saw signs of a better balance between supply and demand and rising prices in Europe during the third quarter. The company had described the European commodity steel market as cautious in the second quarter, when import volumes rose from the previous quarter, before the new measures took effect. It also said the European carbon border adjustment mechanism became fully operational in January 2026, with the aim of creating more level competitive conditions. Reuters quoted the CEO as noting that inventories of imported steel were being depleted, a point not included in the company’s statement.
In its fourth-quarter guidance, SSAB forecast that realized prices for its steel divisions would be somewhat higher than in the previous quarter, with annual planned maintenance to be completed during the quarter. Investing.com reported that Class A shares fell about 3% to 95.32 kronor in pre-market trading in Stockholm. These two figures describe the share-price move at different times and in different terms after the announcement. In Europe, Eurostat’s calendar scheduled the release of the economic sentiment indicator and the October business and consumer survey results for 28 October 2026.
The next date on the European calendar is the European Central Bank meeting on 29 October 2026. The bank scheduled the release of its monetary policy decisions for 14:15 Central European Time, with the press conference to begin at 14:45. The meeting follows the release of the sentiment indicators and business and consumer survey the previous day. Markets are watching the data and the meeting as SSAB heads into a quarter in which it expects somewhat higher prices, alongside the completion of planned maintenance. The company’s fourth-quarter guidance remains in focus after the shares’ negative response to the third-quarter results.