Gerdau Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Gerdau NYSE: GGB reported second-quarter 2026 consolidated adjusted EBITDA of BRL 3.4 billion, its strongest quarterly consolidated EBITDA since the third quarter of 2023, as stronger North American performance offset continued pressure on its Brazilian operations from steel imports. Adjusted net income rose 45% from the first quarter to BRL 1.5 billion. The company said Gerdau S.A. would pay dividends of BRL 0.23 per share, while Metalúrgica Gerdau would distribute BRL 0.11 per share. Its share repurchase program for Gerdau S.A. was 31% complete at the end of the quarter.

CEO Gustavo Werneck said shipments increased both sequentially and from a year earlier, including a 7% year-over-year gain in North American volumes. Resilient demand in the company’s primary U.S. and Canadian markets helped North American adjusted EBITDA rise 15% from the first quarter, he said.

Werneck said Gerdau continues to see elevated steel demand in North America, supported by a strong order backlog in renewable energy, data centers, infrastructure-related activity and industrial construction. He also cited demand tied to the construction of semiconductor facilities under the CHIPS and Science Act. “We are at a moment which is unprecedented,” CFO Rafael Japur said of demand for metal construction in North America, adding that the speed of construction is an important advantage for steel structures, particularly for data-center projects.

Management said recently announced price increases for special steel and beams had not been fully incorporated into its outlook. Japur said the increases were expected to take effect during August and would affect different sales channels at different speeds, creating what he called a “not negligible” potential upside to the outlook. Executives nevertheless maintained a cautious stance on future margin expansion, saying they did not expect prices and margins to rise indefinitely. Werneck said the company saw a trend toward higher margins based on prices, spreads and raw-material costs, but management was taking a more conservative view of the broader market environment.

Gerdau expects a maintenance shutdown at its Midlothian facility to affect the melt shop but said it does not anticipate a reduction in customer shipments or supply availability. Japur said the shutdown would create a temporary accounting impact from fixed costs allocated to the period while production is halted, estimating the effect at roughly BRL 100 million to BRL 150 million. He said the outage ...