AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) reported its third-quarter results Tuesday before the market open as -$0.05 in earnings per share and $1.59 billion in revenue. Thomson Reuters had consensus estimates of $0.09 in earnings per share and $1.49 billion in revenue. In the third quarter of the previous year, the company posted -$0.23 in earnings per share and $1.33 billion in revenue. What may stand out to turnaround investors is that AK Steel said it ended the quarter with liquidity of $912 million.

Please Note: This story has been updated for time, volume, and price below.

The company has yet to give guidance for the fourth quarter, but it would note in advance of the guidance that the fourth-quarter results will be affected by a planned outage at the company’s Ashland Works blast furnace for approximately 28 days. The consensus estimates for the fourth quarter are $0.10 in earnings per share and $1.73 billion in revenue.

The net loss for the third quarter was $7.2 million, compared to $31.7 million in the same period from the previous year.

AK Steel shipped 1.46 million tons for $1.59 billion this past quarter, compared to 1.24 million tons worth $1.33 in net sales in the third quarter from the previous year. The average selling price per ton was $1,089, an increase of 2% from the previous year.

In mid-September, AK Steel acquired Dearborn, which is expected to increase the scale of the company’s ability to better serve customers. Other benefits from the acquisition are additional operational flexibility and the addition of highly modernized and upgraded steelmaking equipment and facilities.

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James L. Wainscott, chairman, president and CEO of AK Steel, said:

AK Steel’s third quarter financial performance exceeded our expectations. Our continuing trend of posting adjusted net income provides us with a solid foundation for future growth in earnings and cash flow.

Recent analyst calls:

• Nomura upgraded AK Steel to a Buy rating from Neutral and raised its price target to $10 from $7.50 on October 17.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded AK Steel to a Buy rating from Hold and raised its price target to $10 from $7.25 on October 2.
• Merrill Lynch even saw the turnaround taking more steam back in June.

PRICE UPDATE 11:20 a.m. AK Steel shares were lower slightly after the open, but the shares were down 10% at $6.65 in late-morning trading. This was on 9.9 million shares, which is still shy of the 12.9 million average daily volume.

Shares of AK Steel closed Monday down 1.8% at $7.43. Following the release of the earnings report, the initial response in the premarket was positive and shares were up 2.5% at $7.62. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $9.72 and a 52-week trading range of $4.36 to $11.37. As a reminder, AK Steel was a $20 stock at the start of 2010 and a $15 stock for about half of 2011.

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