Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional: Are Poor Earnings an Indication of Brazil's Market Bottom?

The 1st quarter earnings release for Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional [CSN] (SID) is linked here. I like CSN for its exposure to the Brazilian manufacturing market and huge EBITDA margins. Revenues and profits for the first quarter were down about a third from a year earlier as the Brazilian economy slowed due to the global economic crisis.

At the same time the stock of CSN, as traded on the NYSE, is up over 50% so far in 2009. It seems the value of this quality company fell a little too far.

The press release from CSN has a nice overview of Brazil’s economy, the country’s steel using sectors and steel production and sales for the major global markets. If you are interested in Brazil or the steel industry, this is good reading.

This news may cause the shares of CSN to continue their pullback. For the long term investor, it may be a good time to pick up some shares.

Disclosure: SID is a component of this site’s hypothetical Opportunities Portfolio. I currently do not hold a personal position.