Metal Fabrication Giants: How TriMas, GrafTech, and NN Are Capturing Market Recovery

Recent industry analysis reveals compelling opportunities in the metal products and fabrication sector, with TriMas Corp. (TRS), GrafTech International (EAF), and NN Inc. (NNBR) emerging as standout performers positioned to capitalize on an accelerating market rebound. These three companies represent distinct strategies converging around a shared opportunity: a manufacturing sector in expansion after prolonged contraction, coupled with healthy demand across construction, aerospace, automotive, and energy end markets.

A Manufacturing Rebound Opens Doors for Industry Leaders

The metal products procurement and fabrication landscape has shifted decisively. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index recently returned to expansion territory at 52.6% in January 2026, marking a decisive turnaround after 12 months of contraction. More significantly, the New Orders Index surged to 57.1%—its first expansion since August 2025—while the Production Index climbed to 55.9% from 50.7% in December, reaching its highest level since February 2022.

What makes this recovery noteworthy is that the fabricated metal products industry recorded expansion across all three indices simultaneously, a feat achieved by few sectors. This broad-based acceleration reflects genuine demand strength rather than temporary inventory cycles. Traditional metal fabricators—companies that transform raw materials through forging, stamping, machining, and welding—serve diverse end markets insulated from single-industry risk. This diversification provides natural resilience.

NN Inc.'s Transformation Thesis Aligns With Market Tailwinds

NN Inc. stands at an inflection point. The Charlotte-based company’s multi-year transformation program remains firmly on track to deliver multiple catalysts. Management now projects record adjusted EBITDA, record new sales wins, and positive free cash flow—a trifecta indicating operational maturity. NN continues redirecting its portfolio toward higher-margin products and more attractive end markets while systematically rationalizing underperforming operations.

The company’s newly expanded sales team has constructed an opportunity pipeline exceeding 800 prospective new programs representing more than $800 million in potential annual revenue. This pipeline signals management’s ability to convert market recovery into actual bookings. NN’s disciplined M&A approach—blending transformational acquisitions for scale with strategic tuck-in deals for operational efficiency—demonstrates strategic coherence. Over the past 60 days, analyst consensus estimates for 2026 earnings have moved up 16.7%, reflecting growing confidence in execution.

TriMas Packaging Momentum and Strategic Divestiture

TriMas has engineered a portfolio realignment that sharpens strategic focus. The company’s packaging segment continues absorbing strong demand from beauty and personal care markets—defensive categories that demonstrated resilience throughout the manufacturing slowdown. Product innovation and sustainable packaging solutions are driving organic growth within this business.

Recent capacity investments should amplify segment performance, while management’s cost discipline initiatives are already expanding margins. The decision to divest its aerospace segment represents strategic clarity: TriMas is voluntarily surrendering cyclical exposure to concentrate on higher-visibility packaging revenue. Meanwhile, a bolt-on acquisition strategy broadens the company’s product range, customer footprint, and end-market exposure. The Bloomfield Hills-based company has achieved 1.6% upward revision in fiscal 2026 earnings estimates over the past 60 days, with year-over-year growth projected at 20.2%.

GrafTech’s Geographic Pivot Yields Volume Acceleration

GrafTech International’s execution against a deliberate geographic strategy produced tangible results. Third-quarter 2025 sales volumes expanded 9% year-over-year, but the composition matters. United States volume surged 53%—a stunning acceleration that reflects the company’s successful effort to rebalance its geographic sales mix toward North America.

This pivot matters because the U.S. steel landscape has turned favorable, with industry output expected to increase throughout 2026. In Europe, recently announced trade policy measures are supporting recovery. GrafTech achieved a 10% year-over-year reduction in cash cost of goods sold per metric ton, demonstrating its capacity to manage production costs efficiently across varying demand environments. The company targets 8-10% year-over-year sales volume growth for full-year 2025. Its vertically integrated production model positions GrafTech to leverage geographic optimization and capitalize on long-term steel sector growth.

Valuation Discount Presents Contrarian Opportunity

The metal products sector remains attractively valued relative to broader equity markets. Trading at 10.79X trailing 12-month EV/EBITDA, the industry commands a substantial discount compared to the S&P 500’s 19.05X multiple and the Industrial Products sector’s 19.78X. This 9-point valuation gap reflects lingering pessimism from the industry’s extended contraction, creating opportunity for forward-looking investors.

Historical context reinforces the opportunity: over the past five years, the industry’s EV/EBITDA traded as high as 13.46X and as low as 4.58X, with a median of 7.76X. Current valuations sit between these historical extremes, neither richly valued nor offering distressed pricing. The gap between current multiples and the Industrial Products sector average suggests investors are underappreciating the sector’s recovery trajectory.

Why Cost Discipline and Automation Matter More Than Ever

The industry faces structural headwinds that companies like TriMas, GrafTech, and NN are actively addressing. Labor costs remain elevated due to workforce shortages in specialized roles. Freight and fuel expenses persist as margin pressures. Tariff impacts create uncertainty in raw material costs and international competitiveness.

Manufacturers countering these pressures through three mechanisms: strategic price increases to recapture margin erosion, supply chain diversification to reduce tariff exposure, and aggressive automation adoption to reduce labor dependence. Companies excelling at this trinity of tactics—pricing discipline, supply chain flexibility, and productive automation—will compress margins for laggards while protecting their own profitability.

Innovation and product development are expected to amplify this dynamic. Companies investing in technical solutions, process automation, and end-market diversification position themselves to benefit from expected growth in aerospace, automotive, and manufacturing. Rapid industrialization in developing economies also presents secondary growth channels.

Ranking and Outlook

Industry-level momentum is reflected in research rankings. The Zacks Metal Products - Procurement and Fabrication industry carries an Industry Rank of #55, placing it in the top 23% of 244 total industries tracked by Zacks. This ranking system, derived from aggregating Zacks Rank scores across all member companies, has demonstrated predictive power: research shows top-50% ranked industries outperform bottom-50% industries by a factor exceeding 2-to-1.

TriMas, GrafTech, and NN each carry Zacks Rank #2 designations, indicating analyst consensus for market outperformance. Over the past 12 months, the metal products industry has grown 50% compared with the broader Industrial Products sector’s 15.5% gain, validating early identification of recovery signals.

Conclusion: Convergence of Opportunity

The metal fabrication sector has progressed from contraction to expansion, with manufacturing data confirming the inflection. NN Inc., TriMas, and GrafTech each offer distinct paths to benefit: NN through transformation execution and margin expansion, TriMas through packaging growth and portfolio optimization, and GrafTech through geographic leverage and volume acceleration. Attractively valued relative to the broader market, with industry-level momentum confirmed by multiple indicators, the sector warrants serious attention from investors seeking exposure to the industrial recovery narrative taking shape across 2026.