Insteel Industries (NASDAQ: IIIN) reported Q2 EPS of $0.05, $0.13 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.18. Revenue for the quarter came in at $111.95 million versus the consensus estimate of $116.59 million.

"As we move into the second half of fiscal 2019, we expect increasing shipments driven by continued growth in our construction end-markets and the usual seasonal improvement in demand together with the weather-related deferral of business from earlier in the year," commented H.O. Woltz III, Insteel's president and CEO. "PC strand import competition has continued to intensify, however, in the wake of the Section 232 tariff program, which has provided offshore producers with a substantial raw material cost advantage relative to U.S. producers. We are continuing to pursue alternative solutions with the Administration that would eliminate the penalty the tariffs constitute for downstream consumers of steel and level the playing field with foreign competitors.

"We\'ve made considerable progress with the execution of our ambitious capital investment plan, which is focused on broadening our product offering, reducing our operating costs, updating our production and information systems technology, and strengthening our market leadership positions. We expect increasing contributions from these investments as well as from our ongoing process improvement initiatives over the remainder of the year."

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