AK Steel Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of AK Steel (NYS: AKS) fell 14% after reporting a decline in shipments and disappointing third-quarter financial results. U.S. Steel (NYS: X) also fell on news of wider-than-expected losses in its European division, Bloomberg reported.

So what: Revenue rose just under 1% to $1.59 billion, resulting in a $0.03-per-share net loss. Analysts had been calling for a $0.01 loss on $1.66 billion in revenue, according to data compiled by Yahoo! Finance.

Now what: In a statement, CEO James Wainscott blamed the misses on "a sputtering economy and extraordinarily high raw-materials costs." The implication? Unless the economy does a U-turn, investors shouldn't expect shares of AK Steel to recover anytime soon. Do you agree? Disagree? Please weigh in using the comments box below.

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