Why Insteel Industries, Inc. (IIIN) Is Up the Most So Far in 2025
Industrial stocks are sensitive to the economic cycle. Many of them have already fallen victim to the downturn and have reversed much of their earlier gains from the past few years. However, 2025 is shaping up to be a breakout year for industrial stocks elsewhere. The industrial sector is very broad, and you'll always find winners that outpace expectations and draw the attention of investors who once overlooked these workhorse companies.
Manufacturing and industrial firms have doubled down on digital transformation and have poured resources into automation to boost efficiency. This investment is paying off as companies become more agile and better equipped to handle shocks, whether from geopolitical tensions, labor shortages, or shifting customer needs. It's worth looking into the biggest winners so far this year, as they could continue building on the momentum.
For this article, I screened the best-performing industrial stocks year-to-date.
I will also mention the number of hedge fund investors in these stocks. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points ().
An engineer inspecting a complex set of prestressed concrete strands inside a factory.
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 15
Insteel Industries, Inc. (NYSE:IIIN) is the largest U.S. manufacturer of steel wire reinforcing products for concrete construction applications.
The key catalyst for the stock's strong performance in 2025 was its second quarter earnings release on April 17, 2025, which showed a significant beat on both earnings and revenue.
The company reported earnings per share of $0.52, far surpassing the $0.29 consensus, and revenue of $160.7 million, which exceeded forecasts by 7.2%. This earnings surprise led to a 10.7% jump in the stock price immediately following the announcement.
The quarter's results were driven by a 28.9% year-over-year increase in shipments, improved gross margins to 15.3% from 12.3%, and effective cost management. Management cited recovering demand for concrete reinforcement products and lower unit manufacturing costs as key contributors. Despite $0.7 million in restructuring and acquisition-related costs, net earnings rose to $10.2 million from $6.9 million a year earlier.
Insteel Industries, Inc. (NYSE:IIIN) stock is up 20.57% year-to-date.
Overall, IIN ranks 11th on our list of industrial stocks that are up the most so far in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of IIN as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than IIN but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this .
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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