Reliance (RS)
Distributes and processes metals through a decentralized service-center network.
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Reliance buys metal from the mills, keeps it in warehouses near its customers, cuts it to shape, and ships most orders within a day. The orders are small and there are millions of them, so no one customer matters much. It grew for decades by buying up local metal distributors; that has stopped. Growth now comes from taking a bigger slice of the market, and from two government contracts larger than anything before.
Item facts: FY2025 · year ended December 31, 2025, from filings, earnings calls and company pages.
Judgment weights, not filed revenue
The band summarizes business focus and direction. ~ marks estimates.
7 in detail · 12 more below
Carbon steel products
Beams, plate, tube and bar — the volume core at $7.90B in 2025, up 22.6% in the first half of 2026 as tariffs lifted prices. Non-residential construction, roughly a third of sales, is the swing factor.
Competes with Carbon plate and flat-rolled distribution (Ryerson) · Carbon steel distribution (Kloeckner Metals) · Direct mill sales on large orders (Nucor)
In plain English
Think of the steel yard on the edge of town: racks of beams, plate and tubing standing ready. Reliance buys those from American mills in mill-sized quantities and parks them close to the shops that will use them.
A fabricator welding up a staircase does not want the mill's minimum order and a long wait for it. It wants four beams, cut to length, tomorrow morning — and will happily pay more per pound for exactly that. The money Reliance keeps is the gap between the mill price and the delivered, cut-to-size price, collected a few thousand dollars at a time.
Alloy products
Bar, tube and specialty steels for oilfield, energy and machine shops — about $650M in 2025, up 12.5% in the first half of 2026. Management points at nuclear power, including small reactors, as the demand it is watching.
Competes with Alloy bar distribution (Ryerson) · Alloy bar distribution (Kloeckner Metals) · Specialty tube distribution (TW Metals)
In plain English
Steel made for harder duty than the beams in a building — bar and tube that ends up in oilfield gear, energy equipment, or in a machine shop being cut into a part.
The pull is the same as everywhere else in the company, only on fussier material: a small order, in one named grade and diameter, off a rack that already holds it. Reliance sells it through brands that specialise in it — Earle M. Jorgensen, American Alloy Steel, National Specialty Alloys — a few of the more than seventy locally run businesses the company keeps under its roof.
Aluminum products
Plate, sheet and shaped lengths for aerospace, factories and chip plants — $2.47B in 2025, up 29.9% in the first half of 2026. That jump is price, not tonnage: the 50% tariff raised the cost without bringing more buyers.
Competes with Aluminum plate and sheet distribution (Ryerson) · Aluminum service-center distribution (thyssenkrupp Materials NA) · Aerospace plate cut-to-size (TW Metals)
In plain English
Planes, factory machines and the plants that make computer chips are the buyers here. Reliance stocks aluminum as flat plate, thin sheet, bar and long shaped lengths, and cuts it to order like everything else on the floor.
A 50% tariff on imported metal pushed the cost of common aluminum up sharply, and Reliance passed that through to customers — but, management said plainly, without earning its usual margin on the increase, and with no extra demand attached. So the line looks like a boom when the honest description is that the same metal now costs more. Aerospace has been the slow part, improving only recently.
Stainless steel products
Sheet, plate, bar and tube for food plants, chemical works, medical gear and chip plants. Sales fell three years running, from $2.88B in 2022 to $1.95B in 2025, and only turned back up in 2026.
Competes with Stainless distribution (Ryerson) · Specialty and stainless distribution (Samuel Son & Co.) · Stainless service-center distribution (thyssenkrupp Materials NA)
In plain English
The metal that does not rust. That is why it lines dairy and food-processing tanks, chemical pipework, medical equipment and the rooms where computer chips are made — places where rust would ruin the job.
This is the one big line that has been shrinking: three straight down years, bottoming in late 2025, before sales and profit per ton both climbed again through 2026. It is also the line most exposed to imported metal, so competition from abroad shows up here before it shows up in carbon steel.
Value-added processing services
Cutting, sawing, flattening and machining metal to a customer's drawing — about half of 2025's orders included it. It is why roughly 29 cents of every sales dollar was left after the metal and the work on it were paid for, not the low teens a plain warehouse keeps.
Competes with Value-added flat-rolled processing (Worthington Steel) · Cutting and shaping at its own branches (Ryerson) · Cutting and shaping at its own branches (Kloeckner Metals)
In plain English
Metal arrives from the mill in big, plain shapes: long bars, wide sheets, heavy coils. What a customer actually wants is a disc, a strip, a flattened plate squared to a drawing. Reliance does that work in its own buildings — sawing, cutting, flattening, machining, polishing — before the order goes out the door.
Nobody gets a separate bill for it; the price of the finished piece simply includes it. That is the whole trick. When metal prices fall, a business that only stores metal gets squeezed hard, while orders that had work done to them hold their margin far better.
Toll processing and logistics (Precision Strip)
Precision Strip runs customer-owned coil through slitting and blanking lines for a fee — roughly $650M in 2025, largely for carmakers. Reliance never owns that metal, so falling prices cost it nothing here.
Competes with Toll processing of customer-owned coil (Worthington Steel) · In-house blanking and slitting lines (Automakers and appliance makers) · Independent flat-rolled toll processing (Private regional processors)
In plain English
Here the metal belongs to somebody else. A carmaker, an appliance plant or a can maker buys steel straight from the mill, sends the giant rolls to Precision Strip, and gets them back slit into narrow ribbons or stamped into flat blanks.
Reliance charges for the work, not the metal — a laundromat washing clothes it never owns. That makes it unusually steady through the cycle: when prices crash there is no inventory sitting there losing value. It also means these tons never show up in the shipment figures the company reports, so the line is easy to miss.
AMI Metals government contract program
Two contracts won by the AMI Metals brand: up to $2.24B of steel posts and plate for border-wall work, and up to $654M of cut-to-shape aluminum plate for Lockheed Martin from 2027 — at a company whose largest customer was 0.6% of 2025 sales.
Competes with Aerospace plate cut-to-size (thyssenkrupp Aerospace) · Specialty aerospace metals distribution (TW Metals) · Large-scale steel distribution and logistics (Ryerson)
In plain English
Until 2026 no single customer mattered much here: roughly 125,000 of them, the biggest worth well under a penny of every sales dollar. Then one subsidiary, AMI Metals, won two government jobs worth about three billion dollars together.
The border-wall work is plain enough — buy steel posts and plate, store them across warehouses Reliance already has, truck them where the government asks. The price per ton is below average and so is the margin on it, but it leans on buildings and people already paid for, so it still lifted profit: 41 cents of earnings per share in a single quarter. Both programs have end dates.
Carbon steel productsBeams, plate, tube and bar — the volume core at $7.90B in 2025, up 22.6% in the first half of 2026 as tariffs lifted prices. Non-residential construction, roughly a third of sales, is the swing factor.Beams, plate, tube and bar — the volume core at $7.90B in 2025, up 22.6% in the first half of 2026 as tariffs lifted prices. Non-residential construction, roughly a third of sales, is the swing factor.
In plain English
Think of the steel yard on the edge of town: racks of beams, plate and tubing standing ready. Reliance buys those from American mills in mill-sized quantities and parks them close to the shops that will use them.
A fabricator welding up a staircase does not want the mill's minimum order and a long wait for it. It wants four beams, cut to length, tomorrow morning — and will happily pay more per pound for exactly that. The money Reliance keeps is the gap between the mill price and the delivered, cut-to-size price, collected a few thousand dollars at a time.
Competes with Carbon plate and flat-rolled distribution (Ryerson) · Carbon steel distribution (Kloeckner Metals) · Direct mill sales on large orders (Nucor)
Alloy productsBar, tube and specialty steels for oilfield, energy and machine shops — about $650M in 2025, up 12.5% in the first half of 2026. Management points at nuclear power, including small reactors, as the demand it is watching.Bar, tube and specialty steels for oilfield, energy and machine shops — about $650M in 2025, up 12.5% in the first half of 2026. Management points at nuclear power, including small reactors, as the demand it is watching.
In plain English
Steel made for harder duty than the beams in a building — bar and tube that ends up in oilfield gear, energy equipment, or in a machine shop being cut into a part.
The pull is the same as everywhere else in the company, only on fussier material: a small order, in one named grade and diameter, off a rack that already holds it. Reliance sells it through brands that specialise in it — Earle M. Jorgensen, American Alloy Steel, National Specialty Alloys — a few of the more than seventy locally run businesses the company keeps under its roof.
Competes with Alloy bar distribution (Ryerson) · Alloy bar distribution (Kloeckner Metals) · Specialty tube distribution (TW Metals)
Aluminum productsPlate, sheet and shaped lengths for aerospace, factories and chip plants — $2.47B in 2025, up 29.9% in the first half of 2026. That jump is price, not tonnage: the 50% tariff raised the cost without bringing more buyers.Plate, sheet and shaped lengths for aerospace, factories and chip plants — $2.47B in 2025, up 29.9% in the first half of 2026. That jump is price, not tonnage: the 50% tariff raised the cost without bringing more buyers.
In plain English
Planes, factory machines and the plants that make computer chips are the buyers here. Reliance stocks aluminum as flat plate, thin sheet, bar and long shaped lengths, and cuts it to order like everything else on the floor.
A 50% tariff on imported metal pushed the cost of common aluminum up sharply, and Reliance passed that through to customers — but, management said plainly, without earning its usual margin on the increase, and with no extra demand attached. So the line looks like a boom when the honest description is that the same metal now costs more. Aerospace has been the slow part, improving only recently.
Competes with Aluminum plate and sheet distribution (Ryerson) · Aluminum service-center distribution (thyssenkrupp Materials NA) · Aerospace plate cut-to-size (TW Metals)
Stainless steel productsSheet, plate, bar and tube for food plants, chemical works, medical gear and chip plants. Sales fell three years running, from $2.88B in 2022 to $1.95B in 2025, and only turned back up in 2026.Sheet, plate, bar and tube for food plants, chemical works, medical gear and chip plants. Sales fell three years running, from $2.88B in 2022 to $1.95B in 2025, and only turned back up in 2026.
In plain English
The metal that does not rust. That is why it lines dairy and food-processing tanks, chemical pipework, medical equipment and the rooms where computer chips are made — places where rust would ruin the job.
This is the one big line that has been shrinking: three straight down years, bottoming in late 2025, before sales and profit per ton both climbed again through 2026. It is also the line most exposed to imported metal, so competition from abroad shows up here before it shows up in carbon steel.
Competes with Stainless distribution (Ryerson) · Specialty and stainless distribution (Samuel Son & Co.) · Stainless service-center distribution (thyssenkrupp Materials NA)
Value-added processing servicesCutting, sawing, flattening and machining metal to a customer's drawing — about half of 2025's orders included it. It is why roughly 29 cents of every sales dollar was left after the metal and the work on it were paid for, not the low teens a plain warehouse keeps.Cutting, sawing, flattening and machining metal to a customer's drawing — about half of 2025's orders included it. It is why roughly 29 cents of every sales dollar was left after the metal and the work on it were paid for, not the low teens a plain warehouse keeps.
In plain English
Metal arrives from the mill in big, plain shapes: long bars, wide sheets, heavy coils. What a customer actually wants is a disc, a strip, a flattened plate squared to a drawing. Reliance does that work in its own buildings — sawing, cutting, flattening, machining, polishing — before the order goes out the door.
Nobody gets a separate bill for it; the price of the finished piece simply includes it. That is the whole trick. When metal prices fall, a business that only stores metal gets squeezed hard, while orders that had work done to them hold their margin far better.
Competes with Value-added flat-rolled processing (Worthington Steel) · Cutting and shaping at its own branches (Ryerson) · Cutting and shaping at its own branches (Kloeckner Metals)
Toll processing and logistics (Precision Strip)Precision Strip runs customer-owned coil through slitting and blanking lines for a fee — roughly $650M in 2025, largely for carmakers. Reliance never owns that metal, so falling prices cost it nothing here.Precision Strip runs customer-owned coil through slitting and blanking lines for a fee — roughly $650M in 2025, largely for carmakers. Reliance never owns that metal, so falling prices cost it nothing here.
In plain English
Here the metal belongs to somebody else. A carmaker, an appliance plant or a can maker buys steel straight from the mill, sends the giant rolls to Precision Strip, and gets them back slit into narrow ribbons or stamped into flat blanks.
Reliance charges for the work, not the metal — a laundromat washing clothes it never owns. That makes it unusually steady through the cycle: when prices crash there is no inventory sitting there losing value. It also means these tons never show up in the shipment figures the company reports, so the line is easy to miss.
Competes with Toll processing of customer-owned coil (Worthington Steel) · In-house blanking and slitting lines (Automakers and appliance makers) · Independent flat-rolled toll processing (Private regional processors)
AMI Metals government contract programTwo contracts won by the AMI Metals brand: up to $2.24B of steel posts and plate for border-wall work, and up to $654M of cut-to-shape aluminum plate for Lockheed Martin from 2027 — at a company whose largest customer was 0.6% of 2025 sales.Two contracts won by the AMI Metals brand: up to $2.24B of steel posts and plate for border-wall work, and up to $654M of cut-to-shape aluminum plate for Lockheed Martin from 2027 — at a company whose largest customer was 0.6% of 2025 sales.
In plain English
Until 2026 no single customer mattered much here: roughly 125,000 of them, the biggest worth well under a penny of every sales dollar. Then one subsidiary, AMI Metals, won two government jobs worth about three billion dollars together.
The border-wall work is plain enough — buy steel posts and plate, store them across warehouses Reliance already has, truck them where the government asks. The price per ton is below average and so is the margin on it, but it leans on buildings and people already paid for, so it still lifted profit: 41 cents of earnings per share in a single quarter. Both programs have end dates.
Competes with Aerospace plate cut-to-size (thyssenkrupp Aerospace) · Specialty aerospace metals distribution (TW Metals) · Large-scale steel distribution and logistics (Ryerson)
Named in filings, launches and programs
- Copper and brass productsProduct lineThe smallest metal line at roughly $360M in 2025, though first-half 2026 sales ran about 25% ahead of a year earlier.
- AMI MetalsBrandAerospace service center in Brentwood, Tennessee — the subsidiary that won both 2026 government contracts.
- Earle M. Jorgensen CompanyBrandAlloy and carbon bar and tube distribution, with a separate Canadian arm.
- Metals USA Plates and Shapes / Flat Rolled GroupBrandTwo separately branded units inside the family, carrying plate, structural shapes and flat-rolled steel.
- Chapel SteelBrandPlate specialist in carbon and alloy — thick flat steel cut to shape.
- Infra-MetalsBrandStructural steel for non-residential construction and infrastructure projects.
- Yarde MetalsBrandAluminum and stainless distribution under its own name.
- ValexBrandHigh-purity stainless tubing and fittings for the plants that make computer chips.
- Continental Alloys & Services / DuBose National EnergyBrandAlloy supply aimed at energy and oilfield customers.
- Diamond Manufacturing / McKey Perforating / Ferguson PerforatingBrandThree brands making perforated metal — sheet and plate punched full of holes.
- Reliance Aerospace Solutions / Service Steel AerospaceBrandAerospace-focused brands sitting alongside AMI Metals.
- FerrouSouth (from Ferragon)BrandToll-processing capacity bought from Ferragon in August 2024 and folded into the Precision Strip lines.
Copper and brass productsProduct line
The smallest metal line at roughly $360M in 2025, though first-half 2026 sales ran about 25% ahead of a year earlier.
AMI MetalsBrand
Aerospace service center in Brentwood, Tennessee — the subsidiary that won both 2026 government contracts.
Earle M. Jorgensen CompanyBrand
Alloy and carbon bar and tube distribution, with a separate Canadian arm.
Metals USA Plates and Shapes / Flat Rolled GroupBrand
Two separately branded units inside the family, carrying plate, structural shapes and flat-rolled steel.
Chapel SteelBrand
Plate specialist in carbon and alloy — thick flat steel cut to shape.
Infra-MetalsBrand
Structural steel for non-residential construction and infrastructure projects.
Yarde MetalsBrand
Aluminum and stainless distribution under its own name.
ValexBrand
High-purity stainless tubing and fittings for the plants that make computer chips.
Continental Alloys & Services / DuBose National EnergyBrand
Alloy supply aimed at energy and oilfield customers.
Diamond Manufacturing / McKey Perforating / Ferguson PerforatingBrand
Three brands making perforated metal — sheet and plate punched full of holes.
Reliance Aerospace Solutions / Service Steel AerospaceBrand
Aerospace-focused brands sitting alongside AMI Metals.
FerrouSouth (from Ferragon)Brand
Toll-processing capacity bought from Ferragon in August 2024 and folded into the Precision Strip lines.