Is This Recovering Steel Giant Worth the Risk?

After the deep 2007 to 2009 recession, the cyclical U.S. steel industry entered a long downturn. Making matters worse was an influx of cheap foreign imports into the United States. Every major domestic steel stock felt the pain. Now, however, with the steel industry benefiting from an industry upturn, financially strong steelmakers like Steel Dynamics, Inc.

and Nucor Corporationare posting solid results and stock gains. AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE: AKS), however, has lagged far behind. Is AK Steel a contrarian opportunity or a risk not worth taking?