Credit Suisse analysts led by Curt Woodworth said they remain very "bullish" on the US steel industry and said its new supply/demand model for the US flat rolled market indicates supporting prices well above fair value levels. The firm's analyst significantly increased its price deck for domestic flat rolled steel, and to lesser extent, long products, and sees structurally higher prices for sheet relative to scrap/global arbitrage than historical levels due to multiple factors. Woodworth upgraded AK Steel to Outperform from Neutral and increased its price target to $7 from $3.50, and raised Outperform rated U.S. Steel's price target to $26 from $22 and Steel Dynamics' to $33 from $27.

Says will continue to buy back stock "hand over fist." Says Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) "the only U.S. solution" for U.S. Steel (X). Says will have to "re-assess value" of U.S. Steel. Says targeting net debt to EBITDA of 2.5x. Says balance sheet in "great shape, near record liquidity." Sees CapEx ~$1B/year from 2025-2028. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.