Insteel Industries, Inc. announced financial results for its third quarter of fiscal 2025 ended June 28, 2025.
Net earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2025 increased to $15.2 million from $6.6 million the same period a year ago. Insteel said in a statement that third quarter results for fiscal 2025 driven by higher shipments of its concrete reinforcement products along with wider spreads between selling prices and raw material costs, partially offset by an increase in selling, general and administrative expense driven by higher incentive plan expense.
Net sales increased by 23.4 percent to $179.9 million from $145.8 million in the prior year quarter, driven by an 11.7 percent rise in average selling prices and a 10.5 percent increase in shipments. The company said shipments for the current quarter were driven by the incremental volume generated from acquisitions completed earlier in the year and improved demand in construction markets. On a sequential basis, shipments increased 3.5 percent from the second quarter of fiscal 2025, while average selling prices increased 8.2 percent.
“As we had previously indicated, we experienced sourcing challenges during our third quarter related to reduced domestic capacity to produce steel wire rod, our primary raw material,” said H.O. Woltz III, President and CEO of Insteel. “Reduced domestic supplies of wire rod disrupted our production schedules, extended lead times, and impacted our ability to fully meet customer demand. As we indicated we would do, we turned to international markets to fill the supply gap, which will ease supply constraints moving forward into the fourth quarter. Alongside these availability challenges, we experienced sharply escalating wire rod prices in both domestic and international markets. Contributing to the upward pressure on prices was the unexpected decision by the Administration to double the Section 232 tariff on steel imports, which will affect our cost for substantial quantities of offshore purchases and require disciplined pricing strategies moving forward as we seek to recover higher costs in our markets.”
Mr. Woltz continued, “Despite these challenges, we remain confident in our business outlook. Our recent acquisitions are meaningfully contributing to our performance by enhancing shipment volumes and improving our competitive positioning in certain geographies. We are encouraged that customers generally express optimism about their business prospects, and demand has improved, even as broader macroeconomic indicators for the construction activity suggest a more cautious environment. That said, we are taking proactive steps to manage our costs and remain confident in our long-term competitive positioning.”