Reliance Q2 2026 Earnings Report

Reliance EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $6.27
• Consensus EPS: $5.47
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.80
• One Year Ago EPS: $4.43

Reliance Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $4.63 billion
• Expected Revenue: $4.26 billion
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$369.84 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: +26.50%

Reliance Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q2 2026
• Date: 7/22/2026
• Time: After Market Closes
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, July 23, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 11:00AM ET

Reliance (NYSE:RS) (NYSE: RS) is a diversified metals service center company that purchases, processes and distributes metals and related industrial products. Its product portfolio includes carbon steel, aluminum, stainless steel, copper, brass, titanium and other specialty metals.

The company provides value-added processing services such as cutting, leveling, sawing, machining, forming and preparing materials to customer specifications. These services help manufacturers and other commercial users reduce material-handling requirements and obtain metals in ready-to-use forms.

Founded in 1939 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Reliance serves customers through a network of operations primarily across North America, with additional international capabilities. Its customer base spans the construction, industrial machinery, energy, aerospace, automotive, transportation, semiconductor and other manufacturing sectors. Karla R. Lewis serves as the company’s president and chief executive officer.

Reliance Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Reliance reported a very strong second quarter, with record tons sold, its second-highest quarterly revenue, and non-GAAP EPS of $6.27, the best since Q2 2023.
• Positive Sentiment: Pricing and demand remained favorable, with average selling price up 7.8% sequentially and continued strength in non-residential construction, general manufacturing, aerospace, and semiconductor markets.
• Neutral Sentiment: The U.S. border wall contract provided a meaningful boost in Q2 and is expected to remain close to full run-rate through mid-2027, with management saying phase two could add roughly $800 million-$900 million if the customer opts in.
• Negative Sentiment: Higher-than-expected metal costs, especially aluminum, pushed full-year LIFO expense guidance up to $300 million from $150 million, creating a significant drag on reported margins despite stronger underlying profitability.
• Positive Sentiment: Management emphasized a strong balance sheet, with net debt to EBITDA of 0.9x, healthy cash flow, and continued capital allocation capacity, while maintaining 2026 capex guidance of about $300 million.

Presentation

[Operator]

It's now my pleasure to turn the call over to Kim Orlando, Investor Relations. Kim, please go ahead.

[Kim Orlando, Investor Relations at ADDO Investor Relations]

Thank you, operator. Good morning. Thanks to all of you for joining our conference call to discuss Reliance's second quarter 2026 financial results. I am joined by Karla Lewis, President and Chief Executive Officer, Steve Koch, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and Arthur Ajemyan, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. A recording of this call will be posted on the investors section of our website at investor.reliance.com. Please read the forward-looking statement disclosures included in our earnings release issued yesterday. Note that it applies to all statements made during this teleconference. The reconciliations of the adjusted numbers are included in the non-GAAP reconciliation part of our earnings release. I will now turn the call over to Karla Lewis, President and CEO of Reliance.

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us to discuss our second quarter 2026 results. Reliance delivered another excellent quarter, building on the positive momentum of the first quarter and the continued strong execution by our teams. Market conditions remained favorable, supported by improving customer activity, extended mill lead times, and strong pricing across our broad product portfolio. We achieved our second highest quarterly revenue, as well as record quarterly tons sold. Continued to outperform broader industry shipment trends. These results and our sustained industry outperformance reflect our scale, diversification across end markets, products, and value-add service offerings, and our position as a partner of choice with domestic mills. Non-residential construction and market sales remained strong. We began to see meaningful improvements in our sales to the general manufacturing, aerospace, and semiconductor markets throughout the second quarter.

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

We also benefited from initial contributions from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security border wall contract that we were awarded earlier this year, generating activity in excess of our guidance and contributing meaningfully to our second quarter earnings. Steve and Arthur will speak about its financial impact later in the call. Elevated pricing levels, along with strong execution by our teams, drove significant growth in our profitability, including a 40% year-over-year increase in non-GAAP pre-tax income and non-GAAP earnings per share of $6.27, our highest EPS result since the second quarter of 2023. Trade policy continues to limit imports and support strong domestic pricing, which is further strengthened by extended lead times. Our longstanding domestic mill partnerships help ensure reliable material availability, allowing us to better serve our customers and capture new opportunities.

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Our balance sheet and liquidity remain key competitive advantages, supporting strategic growth investments and ongoing returns to stockholders, as well as disciplined capital deployment. For the full year 2026, our capital expenditure outlook remains approximately $300 million, with about half allocated to strategic growth investments to enhance processing capabilities, strengthen customer service, expand our footprint, and grow volumes in attractive markets. As customer optimism builds and activity continues to strengthen across infrastructure, including the U.S. border wall project, semiconductor, general manufacturing, and aerospace, Reliance remains exceptionally well-positioned to capitalize on the many meaningful opportunities that we expect to continue to materialize throughout the second half of 2026 and into next year. I'll now turn the call over to our COO, Steve Koch.

[Steve Koch, EVP and COO at Reliance]

Thanks, Karla, and good morning, everyone. Our second quarter performance reflects continued strong execution across our operations and our dedication to safety and exceptional customer service. We recognize the teams across the Reliance Family of Companies, whose relentless focus and hard work fuel our industry-leading results and reinforce the many competitive advantages that set Reliance apart. Turning to our demand and pricing trends. Record tons sold increased 7% from the prior quarter, and were up 10.8% compared to the second quarter of 2025, significantly exceeding our expectations of up 1%-3% sequentially and up 4.5%-6.5% year-over-year. The sequential increase in our second quarter tons sold included a 5.1 percentage point contribution from the U.S. border wall contract. Carbon steel products continued to lead our tons sold growth. Aluminum and stainless-steel products also contributed at higher per ton profitability levels.

[Steve Koch, EVP and COO at Reliance]

Our second quarter average selling price increased 7.8% from the first quarter of 2026, exceeding our expectation of up 1.5%-3.5%. This includes a 1.6 percentage point offset from the U.S. border wall project. As a result of higher shipment volumes of lower-priced products. Pricing for carbon steel and aluminum products continued upward amid constrained supply, extended lead times, and strengthening demand. These market dynamics magnify the strategic benefit of our reliable access to metal from our domestic mill partners. Turning to our end markets, non-residential construction represented roughly one-third of our second quarter sales, primarily from carbon steel tubing, plate, and structural products. Second quarter shipments remained strong despite supply constraints, driven by sustained strong activity in data center and related energy infrastructure projects, alongside solid demand in heavy civil and public infrastructure work.

[Steve Koch, EVP and COO at Reliance]

Our participation in the U.S. border wall project further strengthened our presence in the non-residential construction market. General manufacturing also represented about one-third of our second-quarter sales. Our participation in this market is highly diversified across products, industries, and geographies. Shipments showed strong year-over-year growth driven by industrial machinery, including data center equipment, as well as shipbuilding, military, consumer products, and construction machinery. Aerospace products accounted for approximately 9% of second-quarter sales. We saw early signs of improvement in commercial aerospace supported by improving backlogs as OEM build rates increased, though elevated inventories persist. Defense and space-related aerospace activity remained strong during the quarter. Automotive, which we primarily serve through our toll processing operations, represented about 4% of second-quarter sales. As a reminder, our toll processing volumes are excluded from our tons sold.

[Steve Koch, EVP and COO at Reliance]

Demand improved in the second quarter as our flexible toll processing operations quickly adapted to the variable demands of the automotive market. Demand in the semiconductor market is showing clear improvement. We are seeing momentum accelerate, supported by increasing data center activity. In summary, Reliance continues to be distinguished by our people, our strong domestic relationships, and our focus on delivering unmatched customer service. The strategic investments we've made across our footprint are generating tangible returns, and our disciplined commercial and operational approach continues to drive the market and performance and profitability that further differentiate us. I will now turn the call over to our CFO, Arthur, to review our financial results and outlook.

[Arthur Ajemyan, SVP and CFO at Reliance]

Thanks, Steve, and thanks, everyone, for joining today's call. We delivered another strong quarter, with sales increasing 27% year-over-year on stronger-than-anticipated shipments and pricing. Our second quarter gross profit of $1.3 billion was up 11% compared to the first quarter of 2026 and up 20% compared to the second quarter of 2025. On a FIFO basis, which is how we evaluate our ongoing performance, non-GAAP gross profit margin expanded to 30.5% compared to 30.1% in the first quarter of 2026, down modestly from 30.6% in the prior quarter. This includes a roughly 40 basis point margin headwind from the U.S. border wall project. However, as we are leveraging existing infrastructure, the project below company average operating cost per ton more than offset its impact on gross profit margin, adding approximately 30 basis points to pre-tax income margin.

[Arthur Ajemyan, SVP and CFO at Reliance]

Higher-than-anticipated carbon and aluminum product costs caused us to increase our full-year LIFO expense outlook to $300 million from our prior estimate of $150 million. As a result, we recorded second-quarter LIFO expense of $112.5 million, significantly above our estimate of $37.5 million. Accordingly, we also expect to record LIFO expense of $75 million in the third quarter of 2026. At the end of the second quarter, the LIFO reserve on our balance sheet was approximately $700 million, which remains available to support future operating results and help mitigate the impact of future metal price declines. Aluminum was a notable driver of the LIFO expense increase, disproportionately affecting our LIFO gross profit margin relative to historical levels. Higher aluminum pricing resulting from Section 232 tariffs without a corresponding increase in demand also continued to constrain FIFO gross profit margins.

[Arthur Ajemyan, SVP and CFO at Reliance]

We are realizing higher gross profit per ton on aluminum sales and across our entire product portfolio as a result of the current pricing environment. Non-GAAP SG&A expense increased 11% compared to the second quarter of 2025, driven by higher incentive compensation from improved profitability, inflationary impacts on compensation and related benefits, freight and fuel cost inflation resulting from the U.S.-Iran conflict, and higher variable warehousing and delivery costs associated with our increased tons sold. On a per-ton basis, non-GAAP SG&A expense was flat due to favorable operating leverage from higher shipment volumes, including contributions from the U.S. border wall project. Continued market share gains, higher shipment volumes, and increased gross profit dollars drove meaningful operating leverage, resulting in a 40% year-over-year increase in non-GAAP pretax income to $429 million.

[Arthur Ajemyan, SVP and CFO at Reliance]

Our non-GAAP second quarter earnings per diluted share grew 42% year-over-year to $6.27, with the U.S. border wall project contributing $0.41 per share. LIFO expense of $1.64 per share for the second quarter exceeded the $0.54 estimate included in our guidance and $0.35 in the prior year quarter. Moving on to our balance sheet and cash flow. Cash flow from operations in the second quarter improved sequentially to approximately $162 million, despite a significant working capital build from increased shipments and higher metal pricing. Our inventory turn rate based on tons improved to approximately 5.2 times, compared to 4.8 times in 2025. Accounts receivable DSO of approximately 42 days remained healthy and consistent with the prior year. During the quarter, we funded $93 million of capital expenditures and paid $64 million in dividends.

[Arthur Ajemyan, SVP and CFO at Reliance]

We did not repurchase any shares of our issued and outstanding common stock during the quarter and have approximately $529 million remaining available under our current share repurchase program. We remain opportunistic in our approach. Our total debt was $1.7 billion at the end of the second quarter. Our leverage position remains very strong, with a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 0.9, providing substantial liquidity and flexibility to execute on all of our capital allocation priorities. Looking ahead to the third quarter, we expect demand and pricing to remain at healthy levels, with continued improvement across several of the key products and end markets we serve, subject to ongoing risks from domestic and international trade policy in the U.S.-Iran conflict, as well as subject to normal seasonality.

[Arthur Ajemyan, SVP and CFO at Reliance]

We anticipate third quarter 2026 non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $6.40 to $6.60, up 76%-81% year-over-year, including an estimated $75 million of LIFO expense or about $1.10 per diluted share. Please refer to our second quarter earnings release for further details on our Q3 outlook, as well as anticipated contributions from the U.S. border wall project. This concludes our prepared remarks. Thank you again for your time and participation. We will now open the call for your questions. Operator?

[Operator]

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you would like to be placed into question queue, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing star one. Our first question today is coming from Lawson Winder from Bank of America. Your line is now live.

[Analyst at Bank of America]

Yeah. Hi, good morning. This is Satish on for Lawson. My first question is on the-

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Hi, Satish.

[Analyst at Bank of America]

Yeah. Hi, Karla. My first question is on the border wall contract. The shipments accounted for 5.1% of Q2 volumes, and then you expect an additional 2% improvement in Q3. Is there potential for further upside to these volumes, or should we assume volumes to be fairly consistent through the remainder of phase one period? That's through mid-2027.

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Yeah, Satish, the volumes, as we mentioned, were stronger than we had anticipated. We just started shipping under the contract in April, and we did see the volumes ramp and per the guidance we're giving that you just spoke about, yes, we expect higher shipments in Q3. We believe that's close to a full shipment run rate, and should be close to that going through the middle of next year. Of course, it's all dependent on metal supply to us and how quickly our customer pulls the inventory from us. I think you could assume for now that the Q3 guide will be sustained through the following quarters.

[Analyst at Bank of America]

Okay. Thank you. In your opening remarks, you talked about the ability to capitalize on many meaningful opportunities that will continue to emerge in the second half and into 2027. Can you maybe provide a bit more color on what these opportunities are? Is there potential to add similar large government or infrastructure contracts in the near term?

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

The border wall contract is a very significant contract, I don't know that there will be more of that size. However, we do want to highlight that we have the capability to do those types of large contracts or large orders. Just with the momentum we see from our customers, whether it's on the data center, the infrastructure side, the power side

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Military spending. There's just a lot of customer optimism; I think Reliance is doing a better job of having our companies cooperate with each other to be able to provide a broader package to customers and make it easier for them to come to us as a solution for their multiple product needs. We anticipate being able to support our customers when they desire it. With reshoring, there's just a lot of positive momentum right now.

[Analyst at Bank of America]

Okay. Thanks for taking my questions, congrats on a great quarter.

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you. Our next question is coming from Samuel McKinney from KeyBanc Capital Markets. Your line is now live.

[Samuel McKinney, Analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets]

Hi, good morning.

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Hey, Sam.

[Steve Koch, EVP and COO at Reliance]

Good morning.

[Samuel McKinney, Analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets]

Yeah. Despite continued run-ups in carbon and non-ferrous pricing over the course of the second quarter versus the end of the first quarter, I'll say, your quarter-end inventory increased less than $100 million, despite the $600 million increase in revenue. Could you talk about the inventory positioning moving forward, given that many of your orders are of that just-in-time variety?

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Yes, Sam. Our inventory turn rate was a little above five times, for the quarter, which is a little faster than typical. Our company-wide goal is 4.7 turns. We're very comfortable with where our inventory position is. There is some limited supply, some supply constraints at some of the mills. With our strong relationships, we're very happy with how our mill partners are treating us, and we're able to get the inventory we need for our customers. Inventory levels are, I think, probably a little lower across the industry right now.

[Steve Koch, EVP and COO at Reliance]

Yeah, I also would add to that, Karla, that our strategy of buying domestically, although lead times are extended, they're still a lot shorter than imports coming in. Based on our robust inventories and our access, we feel like we're still in a really good position to capitalize on the growing demand out in the marketplace.

[Samuel McKinney, Analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets]

Okay. Appreciate that. SG&A as a % of sales this quarter was lower than it's been in a couple of years. With all the storage handling you're doing for the border wall contract, I think it'd be helpful for all of us if you could further discuss just the cost to service that contract versus the rest of your business. I know the storage handling, obviously, much cheaper.

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Yeah, the SG&A costs, as a % of sales, the average sale price being significantly higher drives that down as a percentage. We're still facing inflationary factors on different elements of our SG&A expense, resulting in higher dollars, the elevated selling prices help to cover that. On the border wall contract, we are doing some value-add processing, but I would say at a lower rate based on total tonnage that we're providing than the rest of the company. That keeps the SG&A cost lower per ton for the volume going into the border wall.

[Arthur Ajemyan, SVP and CFO at Reliance]

Sam, I would add that since we're leveraging our vast existing infrastructure, that's what's truly allowing us to lower the variable costs on this project. Otherwise, for anybody else to be able to take this on, they'd have to make significant investments in infrastructure, including facilities, equipment, et cetera. Yeah, absolutely, the variable cost per ton is significantly lower than the company average, and hence the pre-tax margin accretion impact that we mentioned.

[Samuel McKinney, Analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets]

Great. Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you. Our next question today is coming from Timna Tanners from Wells Fargo. Your line is now live.

[Timna Tanners, Managing Director of Equity Research at Wells Fargo]

Yeah. Hey, good morning.

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Morning.

[Timna Tanners, Managing Director of Equity Research at Wells Fargo]

Wanted to ask a little bit about the components of the product mix you have. What you're seeing there, plate and beams seem particularly tight, and prices have inched up further. Aluminum, at least LME, has retreated. How does that play out for your products and pricing into the second half? I have a follow-up, I guess, with more flat roll questions.

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Yeah. Hi, Timna. Yes, beam and plate prices have seen strong increases. It's a tight market, and there's significant customer demand pulling that. We're participating in those markets, as we always do, just at higher pricing levels. I think a stronger pull on those products. There was the aluminum price pullback, but from very high levels. I would say from that standpoint, even though the price has pulled back a bit, it's still elevated pricing levels. We're making very high levels of gross profit dollar margin on the aluminum products we're selling, as well as beam and plate.

[Steve Koch, EVP and COO at Reliance]

Yeah, Timna, I would add to Karla's comments. Based on our market position in beams and plate in some of our service centers that have been in this business for a long time, when supply gets a little bit tight

[Steve Koch, EVP and COO at Reliance]

We get what we've been getting in the past years. People don't like to use the word allocation, but when it is really tight, we get what we got in the past. Also, when we need some favors or have some jobs that come up, we do get preferential treatment. I would say that just the long track record really helps us in a market like this.

[Timna Tanners, Managing Director of Equity Research at Wells Fargo]

Okay. That makes sense. Thanks. On the flat-rolled side, it does seem like lead times came down, came back up, depending on who you're looking at. Are you seeing evidence that the mills are starting to catch up with their lead times? What are you seeing on the flat-rolled side? It seems like even if you're not importing, there's quite a bit on the water. Just a little more color, that would be great.

[Steve Koch, EVP and COO at Reliance]

We are not importing flat rolls, Timna. I would say that our average flat-rolled order is about two weeks late, but with some mills, they're four to eight weeks late. We've not seen a whole lot of signs of our suppliers catching up, although they really are trying to deal with the increased demand and some production challenges.

[Timna Tanners, Managing Director of Equity Research at Wells Fargo]

Great. I don't have as much color on the other components, the stainless and alloy. What are you seeing trend-wise there in terms of pricing and activity?

[Steve Koch, EVP and COO at Reliance]

For stainless, prices have stayed pretty steady. Some specialty stainless where there's been an inventory glut, that seems to be working itself off, and we think that the second half should show some increase in prices.

[Timna Tanners, Managing Director of Equity Research at Wells Fargo]

Okay. Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you. Our next question today is coming from Nick Cash from Goldman Sachs. Your line is now live.

[Nick Cash, Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Hi, thank you all, and good morning. I just want to go back to the border wall real quick. You guys shipped about 85,000 tons in Q2, that's ramping up to call it maybe 120,000 tons in Q3. In Q2, it added 30 basis points of pre-tax margin. Should we expect that OpEx light structure to hold as you scale up shipments, or could there be any change there? Thanks.

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Hi, Nick. Yeah, we expect to hold at those levels, and the higher volumes make us probably a little more efficient with the tons going through. Those are good assumptions for the border wall contract.

[Nick Cash, Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Okay, thank you. Just one more on carbon tubing, that jumped from 9%-12% quarter-over-quarter. Are you seeing the wall crowding out any potential commercial availability for tubing, or how are you counteracting that?

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Well, I would say the increase in our product mix for the tubing is pretty directly attributable to the tons we're shipping under the border wall contract, and I think from a market standpoint, it is consuming a good amount of product, but that helps support overall carbon pricing, especially for the tubing products.

[Nick Cash, Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Fantastic. Thank you. I will pass it on.

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Thanks.

[Operator]

Thank you. Next question today is coming from Martin Englert from Seaport Research Partners. Your line is now live.

[Martin Englert, Analyst at Seaport Research Partners]

Hello. Good day, everyone. Wanted to come back to a question in the release here. You noted potential supply availability as a headwind in non-residential construction, I believe. Just wanted to see, could you provide some more color, and then what you are hearing from customers in the construction industry regarding potential project delays or cancellations due to supply and/or higher metals prices?

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Hi, Martin. As we mentioned, our volumes shipped have been strong. As Steve just mentioned on an earlier question, there is allocation, so to speak, on some of those products because demand has been so strong. That helps elevate the prices. I don't think we have seen any significant project delays.

[Steve Koch, EVP and COO at Reliance]

No, we haven't seen any delays as far as I know. When we say headwinds, our customers are growing, and they want us to grow alongside of them. That's kind of our goal. When there's such a demand, we try to make sure that we give them everything that they need. We just don't have an unlimited amount. I think that we're keeping up with our customer demand.

[Martin Englert, Analyst at Seaport Research Partners]

Okay. A broader question about the industry, as there's been some consolidation. Do you anticipate any increased competition from this, or rather, could it result a situation where in the broader distribution processing industry in the U.S. is more disciplined when it comes to factors like price and margin?

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Yeah. We're hopeful that it will create a more disciplined environment with fewer competitors. We hope that it takes one competitive bidder out, hopefully, if they focus on more pricing discipline.

[Martin Englert, Analyst at Seaport Research Partners]

Okay. Appreciate the color and congratulations on the results and the outlook.

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Thank you.

[Steve Koch, EVP and COO at Reliance]

Thanks, Martin.

[Operator]

Thank you. Next question today is coming from Bennett Moore from J.P. Morgan. Your line is now live.

[Bennett Moore, Analyst at J.P. Morgan]

Morning, Karla, Steve, Arthur. Thank you for taking my questions, and congrats on the strong quarter. Excluding the DHS contract contribution, shipments were guided down 2%-4% quarter-over-quarter. I believe this is in line with what you've guided to 3Q on typical seasonality. The commentary, the market commentary's been incrementally positive and you continue to gain share. I guess I'm just trying to gauge what level of conservatism may be baked into that guide.

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Yeah, Bennett, you're correct. That's kind of the typical seasonality. To the extent that there is somewhat limited supply availability, is also another factor in that. That's our best estimate at this time.

[Bennett Moore, Analyst at J.P. Morgan]

Okay. Thanks for that. On the LIFO expense came in a bit bigger than expected. I think you alluded that aluminum was proportionately a bigger driver there. When you were pushing through price hikes last quarter on the steel side, that seemed to be supportive of margin expansion. I guess I'm wondering, what was the breakout on the LIFO aluminum versus carbon this past quarter, and are you seeing any steel buyers less willing to accept price hikes at these levels, I guess, given expectation pricing may be peaking somewhat soon?

[Arthur Ajemyan, SVP and CFO at Reliance]

Yeah. Hi, Bennett. Aluminum's disproportionate impact, when you look at our annual estimate, it's roughly, what, let's say 17% of our sales, and it's contributing to about a third of our annual estimate. Out of the $300 million, roughly $100, as of now at least, is aluminum related. We've not really had dynamics like this before. As you know, aluminum pricing has nearly doubled from the pre-tariff levels, the increases are much more significant. You just don't have the same kind of supply and demand dynamics that you have on the carbon side. You step back and say, "What kind of effect is aluminum having on overall profitability?" It's actually our gross profit per pound, per ton, is up significantly from a couple of years ago, right? Even with the significant and outsized amount of LIFO contribution.

[Arthur Ajemyan, SVP and CFO at Reliance]

What it's doing is creating some distortion at the percentage level, right? When you look at consolidated margins and compare aluminum impact on margins to where it is today from two years ago, before LIFO, it's roughly a 50-basis point compression. You layer this outsized LIFO impact; that's another roughly 50 basis points. Aluminum alone is basically introducing roughly 100 basis point margin compression noise. On the flip side, though, one would assume that it's not contributing to higher profitability, it's the exact opposite, right? Our gross profit per unit and overall gross profit dollars are up significantly from a year or two years ago. That's the additional color on aluminum and impact on LIFO and margins.

[Bennett Moore, Analyst at J.P. Morgan]

Thanks for that, Arthur. I guess, just on the last part of the question, though, I know the market's tight for carbon, but are you seeing any evidence of pushback from buyers at these price levels?

[Steve Koch, EVP and COO at Reliance]

As long as our customers can buy the product from us and put their fair markup on it and sell it to their end markets, they're okay right now. What we are seeing is a lot of our competitors with the higher interest rates and the higher cost of carrying inventory is there's a lot of open inventories, and our inventory levels are pretty robust. I think that there's just great opportunity for us to capture more market share and help those customers who are having trouble getting steel out in the marketplace.

[Bennett Moore, Analyst at J.P. Morgan]

All right. Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you. Next question is coming from Katja Jancic from BMO Capital Markets. Your line is now live.

[Katja Jancic, Analyst at BMO Capital Markets]

Hi. Thank you for taking my question. Maybe going back to the border wall, I apologize if you already talked about this, I think last quarter you mentioned that the phase one of the project is expected to add about $1.4 billion in sales through mid-2027. In the past, or at one point, the discussion was that the total value of the contract could be over $2 billion. Does that mean that the contract actually can extend beyond the mid-2027, or how should we think about it?

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Yeah, that's correct, Katja. There's the phase one with the $1.4 billion through the middle of 2027, there's another roughly $800 million-$900 million that is up to our customer to opt in for that. It's not guaranteed. We believe that they will probably execute that extension for phase two, which would extend it beyond the middle of 2027. Also, it just depends. They can accelerate some shipments as well during the project phase. We're just there to satisfy our customers' needs.

[Katja Jancic, Analyst at BMO Capital Markets]

Maybe on just kind of a broader question, are there any products within your portfolio that are currently harder to source than others or that you're having issues procuring?

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

I think at an overall level, again, because of our relationships with our domestic suppliers, I wouldn't say we're having issues getting metal, some markets certainly are tighter than others, such as beams, is a little tight right now.

[Steve Koch, EVP and COO at Reliance]

Carbon plate, heat-treated aluminum plate with aerospace and semiconductor rebounding.

[Katja Jancic, Analyst at BMO Capital Markets]

Okay. Thank you.

[Steve Koch, EVP and COO at Reliance]

Thanks.

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Thanks.

[Arthur Ajemyan, SVP and CFO at Reliance]

Thanks, Katja.

[Operator]

Thank you. We've reached the end of our question and answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over to Karla for any further or closing comments.

[Karla Lewis, President and CEO at Reliance]

Thanks again to everyone for joining us today and your continued support of Reliance. A special thanks to all of our employees throughout the Reliance Family for staying safe and helping us generate such strong results. Before we conclude, I also want to mention that we'll be in New York in early September presenting at the Jefferies Industrials Conference, and we look forward to connecting with many of you at the event. Thanks, everyone, and goodbye.

[Operator]

Thank you. That does conclude today's webcast. You may disconnect your line at this time, and have a wonderful day. We thank you for your participation today.

Participants

Executives

• Karla Lewis, President and CEO
• Steve Koch, EVP and COO
• Arthur Ajemyan, SVP and CFO

Analysts

• Kim Orlando, Investor Relations at ADDO Investor Relations
• Analyst at Bank of America
• Samuel McKinney, Analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets
• Timna Tanners, Managing Director of Equity Research at Wells Fargo
• Nick Cash, Analyst at Goldman Sachs
• Martin Englert, Analyst at Seaport Research Partners
• Bennett Moore, Analyst at J.P. Morgan
• Katja Jancic, Analyst at BMO Capital Markets