09:30 AM EDT, 03/21/2024 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We increase our 12-month target by $9 to $63, on an EV/EBITDA of 6.0x our FY 24 (Aug.) EBITDA estimate, vs. CMC's three-year average forward EV/EBITDA of 5.4x. We raise our FY 24 EPS estimate by $0.01 to $5.08 and FY 25's by $0.04 to $4.65. CMC posted FQ2 adj. EPS of $0.88 vs. $1.44, $0.12 above consensus, driven by a 2.2% top-line beat. In North America, construction activity remained robust and helped drive a 4.9% Y/Y increase in rebar shipments and a 3.6% Y/Y increase in shipments of finished steel products. New contract awards expanded at the fastest pace on record during FQ2, resulting in an 11% Q/Q increase in downstream backlog volumes. The European market improved during FQ2, but long steel consumption remained below historical levels and European adj. EBITDA was a loss of $8.6M. We anticipate robust spring and summer construction activity in North America (led by infrastructure investments), and while Europe remains challenging, we think the segment's adj. EBITDA will be close to break-even in FQ3.