Ryerson Holding Corp (NYSE:RYI) saw its stock soar 5.22% in intraday trading, as investors reacted positively to the company's Q1 2025 earnings report. Despite facing some headwinds, Ryerson's strong sales growth and market share gains seem to have overshadowed its challenges.

The metal service center operator reported a 12.7% increase in net sales for Q1 2025 compared to the previous quarter, reaching $1.14 billion. This growth was driven by a 14% increase in North American shipments, outperforming the industry average by 3 percentage points. The company also made significant strides in working capital management and gained market share in the spot transactional market.

However, it wasn't all smooth sailing for Ryerson. The company reported a net loss of $5.6 million or $0.18 per diluted share in Q1 2025, slightly wider than the $4.3 million loss in the prior quarter. Gross margin contracted by 100 basis points to 18% due to rising commodity prices and lagging contract price adjustments. Despite these challenges, investors seem to be focusing on the company's progress in expense reduction and its ongoing investments in modernizing its service center network, which are expected to improve earnings quality in the long term.