Good morning traders
Martin Marietta shipped 17% more tons in the second quarter than a year earlier, and its gross profit per ton still fell from $8.15 to $6.78.
I added it to my long-term portfolio this month. This letter is the one check that explains the gap, and then how I'm handling a Fed week with a full book.
① The quarter
-> Shipments: 61.6 million tons, up 17% from 52.7 million.
-> Revenue: $1,947 million, up 21%, a record.
-> Average price per ton: $22.74, down 2.0% from $23.21. On the business it owned a year ago, price rose 2.1%.
-> Gross profit per ton: $6.78, from $8.15. A one-off, non-cash inventory charge of $0.84 sits inside it, so the clean number is $7.62, still 6.5% lower.
② The check
What did one ton earn? Divide gross profit by tons for this quarter and for the same quarter last year, strip the one-offs the company names, and compare. If the clean number still fell, the drop isn't just accounting.
Work that out by hand every quarter for a stock you own and you'll skip it by the third one. The RB Trading Journal keeps your positions and your R in one place, so the numbers are there when the next report lands. Code RBT20 takes 20% off: rbtrading.site
③ The bill
The company agreed in June to buy a lime maker with 20 quarries and plants for about $13.5 billion: $7.0 billion in cash and $6.5 billion in shares. It puts its debt at closing at about 3.7 times a year's earnings before interest, tax and depreciation, and wants to be under 2.5 times within 24 months.
④ What I'm reading on 4 November
-> Profit per ton. If the quarries it bought start pricing like the old ones, the clean number should stop falling.
-> The closing date for the deal. The sooner it closes, the sooner the 24-month clock starts.
Martin Marietta reports before the open on Wednesday 4 November, with the call at 10:00am ET.
⑤ Next week's board, without the numbers
Seven of my swing trades filled in the five sessions before the Fed decides on 28 October, so only three new ideas made the cut.
-> A stock that's already had its earnings gap. It reported on 21 October, fell, and is sitting where I'd want to buy it on Monday's open.
-> A currency pair a fraction under a line. It needs a break, and it gets a fresh stop because my last trade on the pair was stopped out on Thursday.
-> Gold, with the line moved down. Last week's line never broke and gold fell about 4%, so the new one is lower.
From the first day of the meeting, new fills go on smaller. The entries, stops and targets for all three, and the trailed stops on what's already open, are on the Trade Desk. The free section has the live market view, and the paid plan is 20% off the annual and includes the paid letters: Start free on the Trade Desk
Education, not financial advice or a recommendation. Company figures are from Martin Marietta's second-quarter 2026 release and its notice of 21 October. Past performance doesn't guarantee future results.