Value And Operational Quality Aren't Enough To Get Voestalpine Moving Up

It’s been something of a boilerplate warning for me when I’ve written about steel stocks this year, but one of my biggest concerns with the companies in this sector has been whether there’s anything left in terms of themes or catalysts to drive these stocks higher. In the case of voestalpine (OTCPK:VLPNY) (VOE.VI), the shares have been disappointingly weak since my last update (down about 14%, underperforming the sector by about 10%), as worries about tariffs, end-market exposures, and cycle/price risk outweigh what have been pretty good operating results.

I do believe voestalpine shares are trading meaningfully below fair value, but what’s going to change that? Valuation itself is very rarely a catalyst, and I don’t know that there’s much desire in Washington, D.C. to ease up on tariffs ahead of midterm elections. Accordingly, while I do think that voestalpine is a very good steel company trading at too low of a price, there is a real risk that this is a value trap at a time when the sector is likely plateauing.

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Value And Operational Quality Aren't Enough To Get Voestalpine Moving Up