GrafTech International (EAF) shares ended the last trading session 6% higher at $13.46. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 35.1% gain over the past four weeks.
Per the American Iron and Steel Institute, domestic raw steel production was up 6.5% year over year to 1,764,000 net tons for the week ending on Sept. 13, 2025. For 2025, domestic steel output is expected to increase modestly, and increased adoption in the electric arc furnace method of steelmaking. This will boost demand for graphite electrodes, benefitting GrafTech. The company is expected to deliver an increase in sales volumes in the balance of 2025 as it continues to regain market share.
This maker of graphite products is expected to post quarterly loss of $1.25 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +3.9%. Revenues are expected to be $142.5 million, up 9.1% from the year-ago quarter.
Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.
For GrafTech, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock's price usually doesn't keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on EAF going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>
GrafTech is a member of the Zacks Metal Products - Procurement and Fabrication industry. One other stock in the same industry, Kaiser Aluminum (KALU), finished the last trading session 2.1% lower at $77.2. KALU has returned 4.1% over the past month.
Kaiser's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.8. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of +56.9%. Kaiser currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
