Insteel Industries, Inc. announced financial results for its first quarter of fiscal 2026 ended December 27, 2025.
Net earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 increased to $7.6 million from $1.1 million the same period a year ago. Insteel said in a statement that of first quarter results for fiscal 2025 were driven by stronger demand for the Company’s concrete reinforcement products, which supported wider spreads between selling pricing and raw material costs.
Net sales increased by 23.3 percent to $159.9 million from $129.7 million in the prior year quarter, driven by an 18.8 percent rise in average selling prices and a 3.8 percent increase in shipments. The company said shipments for the current quarter benefited from favorable demand trends in our infrastructure and commercial construction markets, as well as incremental contributions from our prior year acquisitions. On a sequential basis, shipments decreased 9.7 percent from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, while average selling prices were essentially unchanged.
“Despite industry statistics that would indicate softening construction activity, our markets were resilient during our first quarter and shipment volumes held up,” said H.O. Woltz III, Insteel’s President and CEO. “Nonresidential construction remained a key demand driver, supported by infrastructure spending and data center activity. While residential markets remain soft, we are encouraged by early signs of stabilization. As anticipated, first quarter shipments reflected the typical seasonal slowdown, and margins were impacted by the consumption of higher-cost raw material inventories.”
Mr. Woltz continued, “While forecasters have raised questions surrounding future construction activity, we continue to experience positive customer sentiment and expect 2026 to offer solid opportunity for Insteel. The downward trajectory of interest rates, together with contributions from our recent investments, causes us to be optimistic about our prospects. With that said, we remain concerned about the significant steel price premium in the U.S. relative to the global market, and we expect finished products markets exposed to imports to remain highly competitive. As we have stated previously, only about 10% of our revenues are directly affected by import competition. Looking ahead, we are optimistic that Insteel is positioned for a year of strong performance.”