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Steel Dynamics key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Steel Dynamics had return on equity of 13.3%, an operating margin of 8.1%, debt equal to 47.9% of equity and a current ratio of 3.06. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Fiscal year2009Dec 20092010Dec 20102011Dec 20112012Dec 20122013Dec 20132014Dec 20142015Dec 20152016Dec 20162017Dec 20172018Dec 20182019Dec 20192020Dec 20202021Dec 20212022Dec 20222023Dec 20232024Dec 20242025Dec 2025LTMSept 2026
Gross margin10.1%10.7%11.6%9.9%9.8%11.0%9.6%17.2%16.6%19.6%14.6%14.9%29.1%27.5%21.5%16.0%13.2%15.9%
Operating margin3.0%5.8%7.3%5.4%5.2%3.7%−1.0%9.4%11.2%14.6%9.4%8.8%23.4%22.9%16.8%11.1%8.1%11.5%
Net margin−0.2%2.2%3.5%2.2%2.6%1.8%−1.7%4.9%8.5%10.6%6.4%5.7%17.5%17.4%13.0%8.8%6.5%8.8%
Free-cash-flow margin2.9%0.6%4.0%3.0%1.7%5.9%12.4%8.4%6.0%9.9%9.0%−2.2%6.5%16.0%9.9%−0.1%2.8%4.9%
Return on equity−0.4%6.9%12.7%7.0%7.8%5.8%−4.7%13.6%25.9%34.5%16.8%13.1%60.4%53.5%28.8%17.3%13.3%20.8%
Return on assets−0.2%2.6%4.8%2.8%3.2%2.4%−1.9%6.1%12.2%17.3%8.4%6.3%29.5%28.9%16.9%10.3%7.6%11.4%
Asset turnover0.771.181.381.241.261.331.131.231.441.621.311.091.691.671.291.181.161.30
Current ratio2.453.562.233.772.543.454.744.114.043.964.223.383.103.762.912.533.063.14
Debt to equity110.9%114.9%103.5%92.6%84.4%103.8%98.1%81.5%71.9%61.0%67.8%72.7%50.0%38.3%35.1%36.7%47.9%42.7%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)0.8x2.1x3.3x2.5x3.0x2.3xn/m5.0x7.9x13.6x7.8x8.9x75.2x55.6x41.2x34.5x21.1x18.4x
Effective tax rate—39.3%37.4%30.3%37.8%44.4%—36.2%13.8%22.5%22.6%19.1%22.9%22.7%23.3%21.8%20.5%21.5%
SG&A as % of revenue———4.5%4.5%4.4%5.0%6.1%5.4%5.1%——3.5%2.5%3.1%3.8%4.2%3.3%
Capital spending as % of revenue8.3%2.1%2.1%3.1%2.5%1.3%1.5%2.5%1.7%2.0%4.3%12.5%5.5%4.1%8.8%10.6%5.2%2.7%
Free cash flow ÷ net income—25.5%114.8%135.8%66.2%328.9%—171.3%70.7%93.5%140.7%−38.3%37.3%91.9%76.0%−1.5%42.3%55.9%
Dividends ÷ net income—46.2%29.4%53.6%50.1%67.1%—35.5%17.9%13.4%29.8%38.0%6.6%6.1%11.1%18.4%24.6%15.2%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow59.5%180.9%25.6%39.4%75.6%20.4%13.6%24.6%69.2%58.9%58.1%—106.3%57.4%92.6%—237.7%103.2%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

5 of 7 checks passed · September 30, 2026
What it owns · $17.8bn
Short-term assets $8.0bnLonger-term assets $9.8bn
What it owes, and who funded it · $17.9bn
Short-term liabilities $2.5bnLonger-term liabilities $5.5bnShareholders' equity $9.8bn
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $8.0bn of assets due within a year against $2.5bn of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $8.0bn short-term assets against $5.5bn of longer-dated liabilities.
  • More cash than debt $929m of cash against $4.2bn of debt.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 43% of equity.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 43% to 43% over five years.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $1.7bn of operating cash flow against $4.2bn of debt.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $2.6bn against $139m of interest.

From Steel Dynamics's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

66 /100

Moderate moat

How hard Steel Dynamics's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 16 / 20

    Cash operating profit has been a median 12.2% of total assets over 6 years.

  • Pricing power 5 / 20

    Gross margin has been a median 17.3%, moving by 5.2 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.

  • Durability 12 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median 12.0%; its worst year was 8.0%.

  • Cash conversion 13 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 5.5% of revenue.

  • Discipline 20 / 20

    The diluted share count fell 31.0% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.4% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

Head to head: CLF vs STLDRS vs STLDNUE vs STLDMT vs STLD

More: Steel stocks compared, Materials sector, rankings of US companies

Figures from Steel Dynamics's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 24, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Steel Dynamics.