Here's Why You Should Add Reliance Stock to Your Portfolio Now

Reliance, Inc. RS is benefiting from healthy end-market demand and strategic acquisitions that are strengthening its capabilities and broadening its market reach. Strong profitability and cash generation continue to support shareholder returns through share repurchases and dividend growth. 

We are positive about RS’ prospects and believe that the time is right for you to add the stock to the portfolio, as it looks promising and is poised to carry the momentum ahead.

Let's see what makes RS stock an attractive investment option at the moment.

Positive Analyst Sentiment for RS Stock

Earnings estimates for RS have been going up over the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 has increased 16.1%. The consensus estimate for 2027 has also been revised 8.5% upward over the same time frame. The favorable estimate revisions instill investor confidence in the stock. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RS’ 2026 earnings is pegged at $22.23, suggesting a 55.9% increase from the previous year’s tally. Earnings are projected to increase to $22.4 per share for 2027.

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RS’ Superior Return on Equity (ROE)

ROE is a measure of a company’s efficiency in utilizing shareholders’ funds. ROE for the trailing 12 months for Reliance is 12.51%, above the industry’s level of 3.26%.

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Positive Outlook

Reliance expects third-quarter 2026 demand and pricing to remain healthy and improve across its key products and end markets, supported by resilient market conditions despite ongoing trade policy uncertainty and geopolitical risks. Tons sold are expected to increase 9–11% year over year, with the U.S. border wall project contributing an estimated 2% sequentially and 7.5% year over year.  

Average selling price per ton is projected to remain stable to increase 2% sequentially. Based on these assumptions, Reliance expects adjusted EPS of $6.4–$6.6, including $75 million of LIFO expense, implying strong year-over-year EPS growth of 76–81%. 

Reliance Builds Momentum Through Diverse Growth Drivers

Reliance continues to benefit from the non-residential construction market, its largest end market by volume, where demand improved year over year in the second quarter. Strong activity across data centers, energy infrastructure and public infrastructure projects is supporting healthy demand, and the company expects this momentum to continue despite potential supply availability constraints.  

The Department of Homeland Security border wall project has emerged as an even stronger growth driver than initially expected, contributing meaningfully to second-quarter earnings and shipments, with benefits expected to continue through the second half of 2026. Demand for the company's automotive toll processing services also improved and is expected to remain steady, while semiconductor demand strengthened significantly on rising data-center activity. In addition, Reliance reported improving aerospace demand, continued strength across industrial machinery, shipbuilding and defense-related manufacturing, and expects demand across its diversified end markets to remain healthy. 

Reliance continues to pursue growth through disciplined acquisitions that expand its geographic footprint, diversify its product portfolio and strengthen value-added processing capabilities. Acquisitions across metals, specialty products and processing have broadened its presence in attractive regional markets and enhanced its ability to serve industrial, aerospace, automotive, construction and manufacturing customers.  

The company remains focused on acquiring high-quality businesses with strong customer relationships, differentiated products and attractive margins. Its strong balance sheet and liquidity provide flexibility to fund acquisitions while continuing to return capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. 

Reliance is dedicated to delivering value to its investors, backed by a strong liquidity position. It returned $63.8 million to stockholders through dividend payments in the second quarter of 2026. It repurchased $3.4 billion of its common stock since 2021 at an average price of approximately $234 per share, reducing shares outstanding by 22%.  

The company’s board has raised its quarterly dividend by 4.2% to $1.25 per share. It ended the second quarter of 2026 with cash and cash equivalents of $235.4 million. It generated $162.2 million in cash flow from operations during the last reported quarter, aided by prudent working capital management and profitability. 

Reliance, Inc. Price and Consensus

RS’ Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

RS currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Other top-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space include Materion Corporation MTRN, L.B. Foster Company FSTR, and Lithium Americas Corp. LAC. MTRN carries a Zacks Rank #1, while FSTR and LAC carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Materion’s current-year earnings stands at $6.81 per share, implying a 25.2% year-over-year increase. MTRN’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 6.6%.

The consensus estimate for L.B. Foster’s current-year earnings is pegged at $1.62 per share, implying a 134.8% year-over-year increase. FSTR’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters and missed twice, with the average surprise being 19.9%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Lithium America’s current-year loss is pegged at 14 cents per share, indicating a 69.6% year-over-year increase. LAC’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, with an average negative surprise of 153.8%.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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