A metals service center buys metal from mills, then cuts, shapes, and delivers it to customers. Reliance, Inc. is the largest such company in North America, handling over 100,000 metal products for more than 125,000 customers. It was founded in 1939 in Los Angeles as Reliance Steel Products Company, making steel reinforcing bars for construction. In 2024 it dropped "Steel & Aluminum" from its name to signal it offers more than just those metals — a nod to its evolution from a small rebar fabricator.
Reliance posts record tons sold and 26.5% revenue growth in Q2 2026, but LIFO expense pushes gross margin to 28.1%.
A U.S. border wall contract helped drive tons sold to a record and up 26.5%, but rising metals costs compressed profitability. Revenue reached $4.63 billion and rose 42.3% to $6.29, while pushed down to 28.1% from 29.7% a year ago. The company is growing volume and gaining share, but gross margin remains below its historical 29–31% range for a seventh straight quarter.
Key takeaways
Tons sold rose 10.8% to a quarterly record, with a new U.S. border wall project contract contributing 5.2 percentage points to the volume increase and proving accretive to pretax income margin.
rose 26.5% to $4.63 billion, driven by a 14.5% increase in average selling price per ton on top of the volume gain, marking the second consecutive quarter of pricing growth after a prolonged period of pricing declines.
on a basis fell to 28.1% from 29.7% a year ago, as higher from rising metal costs more than offset a 10-basis-point improvement in margin to 30.5%.
Section summaries
Management's Discussion and Analysis
Record tons sold and higher steel prices drove Q2 2026 net sales up 26.5% to $4.63B, with EPS rising 42.3% to $6.29.
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rose 26.5% in Q2 and 21.2% in H1 2026, driven by a 10.8% increase in tons sold and a 14.5% rise in average selling price per ton.
rose 42.3% to $6.29, supported by the increase and a 230-basis-point improvement in SG&A as a percentage of sales to 17.0%, as higher selling prices provided .
for the first half of 2026 increased $20.1 million to $313.6 million, as higher more than offset investment tied to rising volumes and prices.
rose to $1.69 billion, up 57.8% , while the company maintained $980.0 million in remaining capacity and cash and equivalents stood at $249.7 million.
What changed
fell to 28.1%, below the 29.1% reported in Q1 2026 and the 29.7% in Q2 2025, extending the streak below the 29–31% range to seven quarters. The prior quarter's watch item asked whether margin could return to that range if metals prices stabilized; instead, rising metals costs drove higher that more than offset margin improvement.
Tons sold growth accelerated to 10.8% from 2.7% in Q1 2026, though the acceleration was partly driven by the border wall contract. The prior quarter flagged whether the 2.7% pace was sustainable as the company lapped 5.6% same-store growth in Q1 2025; the border wall contract makes the underlying demand trend harder to isolate.
of $151.4 million in Q2 2026 was essentially flat sequentially from Q1's $151.4 million, and the first-half total of $313.6 million suggests full-year cash flow is tracking below the $831.4 million generated in all of 2025, consistent with the prior quarter's concern that investment tied to rising prices would continue to absorb cash.
remained at $1.69 billion, unchanged from Q1 2026, after rising sharply in prior quarters to fund shareholder returns. The prior quarter asked whether would stabilize; it did this quarter, though at an elevated level.
What to watch
in Q3 2026, to see whether the 28.1% -based level improves if metals prices stabilize and moderates, or whether tariff-driven cost increases continue to keep margin below the 29–31% range.
Tons sold trajectory excluding the border wall contract in Q3 2026, to gauge whether underlying demand growth continues at the 5–6% pace implied by stripping out the 5.2-percentage-point contract contribution, or whether organic volume decelerates.
in the second half of 2026, to see whether the seasonal rebound seen in prior years materializes and full-year cash flow can approach the $831.4 million generated in 2025, or whether investment tied to rising prices continues to absorb cash.
and usage at year-end, given debt held at $1.69 billion and $980.0 million in remaining revolver capacity, to assess whether the company resumes drawing on the facility to fund shareholder returns or begins to deleverage.
A new U.S. border wall project contract contributed 5.2 percentage points to tons sold growth in Q2 and was accretive to pretax income margin.
LIFO margin declined to 28.1% from 29.7% due to higher from rising metal costs, while improved 10 to 30.5%.
SG&A expense grew 11.8% in Q2 on higher variable costs and incentive compensation, but improved as a percentage of sales to 17.0% from 19.3% due to .
for H1 2026 increased $20.1M to $313.6M despite higher needs, and the company maintained strong liquidity with $980.0M in remaining capacity.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
For the Company’s disclosures about market risk, please see Item 7A “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025. There have been no material changes to the Company’s exposures to market ris…
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For the Company’s disclosures about market risk, please see Item 7A “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025. There have been no material changes to the Company’s exposures to market risk as disclosed in Part II—Item 7A of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.
The information contained under the captions “Legal Matters” and “Environmental Contingencies” in Note 11—“Commitments and Contingencies” of the Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q is incorporated herein by refere…
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The information contained under the captions “Legal Matters” and “Environmental Contingencies” in Note 11—“Commitments and Contingencies” of the Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q is incorporated herein by reference.
There have been no material changes to the risk factors disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.
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There have been no material changes to the risk factors disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.