By most standards these are good times for the specialty alloy companies. The oil/gas markets are recovering, multiple industrial markets continue to expand, and aerospace orders have noticeably picked up. And yet, for companies like Allegheny (ATI), Carpenter (CRS), and Universal Stainless (USAP), it has been a somewhat choppy 2018 as improving backlogs and margin leverage are overshadowed by worries about slowing industrial growth and price momentum in the stainless steel market.
Given USAP’s strong recovery from its late 2015/early 2016 lows, it’s easy to say that a lot