Start here if you're new
what it is
GrafTech makes graphite electrodes and needle coke for electric-arc furnaces, the ovens that melt scrap into steel.
how it gets paid
Last year Eaf made $504M in revenue. Graphite electrodes to EAF steelmakers was the main engine at $300M, or 60% of sales.
why growth slowed
Revenue fell 6.4% last year. The 2.2% gross margin mattered most. Revenue came back.
what just happened
GrafTech posted $388M of revenue and a -$5.97 EPS loss.
At a glance
C balance sheet — red flag territory — real financial stress
10/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
32.1% return on capital — every dollar works hard here
-$5.10 fy2024 eps est
$2B fy2026 rev est
xvary composite: 25/100 — weak
What they do
GrafTech makes graphite electrodes and needle coke for electric-arc furnaces, the ovens that melt scrap into steel.
Your edge here is supply control, not the ability to charge more. Vertically integrated → it makes part of its own key input → you face fewer supplier shocks. GrafTech says it is the only large-scale graphite electrode producer with that setup, and it runs about 178 thousand metric tons of capacity across three active plants.
How they make money
$504M
annual revenue · their business grew -6.4% last year
Graphite electrodes to EAF steelmakers
$300M
6.0%
Graphite electrodes to other metals
$20M
10.0%
Petroleum needle coke products
$120M
+2.0%
Industrial materials and misc.
$64M
0.0%
The products that matter
conductive furnace inputs
Graphite Electrodes
$484M · 96% of revenue
this is almost the entire company. it produced $484M of the $504M total, so your investment case rises and falls with one product line and the steel cycle behind it.
96% of revenue
adjacent industrial sales
Other Products
$20M · 4% of revenue
the rest of the portfolio contributed just $20M. useful for context, not enough to offset a downturn in the main electrode business.
too small to matter
Key numbers
$504M
annual revenue
This is a small business with public-market drama. A 6.4% drop is about $32M gone.
15.3%
operating margin
For every $100 of sales, about $15 disappears before the bottom line.
$1.1B
long-term debt
Debt equals 88% of capital. That leaves less room for a bad year.
1.7
beta
The stock moves about 70% harder than the market. Your calm day is not its calm day.
Financial health
C
strength
- balance sheet grade C — very weak — significant financial distress
- risk rank 5 — safer than 5% of stocks
- price stability 5 / 100
- long-term debt $1.1B (88% of capital)
C — balance sheet grade and long-term debt are flagged. this stock carries more risk than average.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for EAF right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
GrafTech posted $388M of revenue and a -$5.97 EPS loss.
Revenue was up 169% vs. prior year, but gross margin was only 2.2%. That is the kind of bounce that still leaves the company short of cash comfort.
$126M
revenue
$5.97
eps
2.2%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The 2.2% gross margin mattered most. Revenue came back, but profit barely showed up.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
GrafTech does not need a list of abstract risks. It needs graphite electrode demand to recover before a debt-heavy balance sheet runs out of room.
med
single-product concentration
Graphite electrodes generated $484M of the company's $504M revenue. That is 96% concentration in one cyclical product sold into steelmaking.
If electrode demand stays soft, almost the entire business stays soft with it.
med
raw-material chokepoint
Management has already flagged petroleum needle coke as concentrated and geopolitically exposed. This is the key raw material behind the main product line.
A supply squeeze would pressure production, costs, or both. None of those outcomes pair well with a -43.6% net margin.
med
debt load leaves no cushion
Long-term debt is $1.1B, or 88% of capital, against a market cap of roughly $146M. The capital structure is doing most of the worrying for you.
Another weak operating year would matter more here than at a cleaner industrial business because debt holders get first claim on patience.
With 96% of revenue tied to one product and $1.1B of long-term debt on the balance sheet, EAF has very little room for a recovery thesis that arrives late.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
calendar
Q1 2026 earnings report
Expected April 24, 2026. After a -$2.45 Q4 EPS print, you want to see whether losses narrow and whether volume actually starts to recover.
metric
graphite electrode volume
Management's target is 5–10% volume growth in 2026. Compare that ambition with the 27.1 thousand metric tons sold in Q4 2025.
risk
needle coke availability
This is the raw-material chokepoint. Any sign of tighter supply or higher sourcing pressure matters because the business does not have another segment big enough to absorb it.
trend
steel cycle follow-through
GrafTech sells into electric arc furnace steel production. If mini-mill activity does not improve, the 2026 recovery setup starts looking more like hope than a forecast.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
10 / 100
A 10 / 100 score means earnings have been highly erratic. In human-speak, analysts do not trust this company to deliver steady quarterly numbers.
risk rank
5
This stock ranks safer than only 5% of the market in the underlying system. That's a polite way of saying risk is the feature, not the bug.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for EAF is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$16
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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