US Steel Soars As Trump Reportedly Considers Greenlighting Nippon Deal: Retail Spirits High

Shares of U.S. Steel Corp. (X) surged over 3% in mid-day trade on Friday after reports suggested President Donald Trump is considering allowing Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. (NPSCY) to acquire the 124-year-old steelmaker.

According to a report by CBS News citing unnamed sources, this is not definite yet, and if Trump goes through with it, it would be a reversal of his earlier stance in December.

Back then, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said, “I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan.”

The report added that Trump said there would be “some pretty good information” about the $14.1 billion U.S. Steel-Nippon deal.

Trump met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday but details of the discussions have not been disclosed yet.

While the Nippon Steel deal is in limbo, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CLF) and Nucor Corp. (NUE) were reportedly interested in a joint bid to acquire the steelmaker.

Amid this confusion, the Pittsburgh-based manufacturing icon posted a loss per share of $0.13 in the fourth quarter, higher than analyst estimates of $0.11, according to Stocktwits data.

The company posted revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, below expectations of $3.54 billion.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around the U.S. Steel stock was in the ‘extremely bullish’ (96/100) territory.

Users on the platform expressed their optimistic outlook for the stock.

U.S. Steel’s stock price has been under pressure, declining nearly 2% over the past six months and losing over 12% in the past year.

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