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A.M. Castle (CAS) reported a 4Q loss of $(0.52)/share, which adjusted to a profit of $0.05/share excluding acquisition-related charges and losses associated with the mark-to-market adjustment for commodity hedges, below the Street’s $0.12/share.  Sales for the quarter rose 19.8% to $282.2M from $235.6M in 4Q 2010.

During the conference call, guidance was for sales growth of 10-15% across all of the company’s businesses as demand continues to improve in key markets including oil and gas, mining and heavy equipment, and general industrial markets.  We believe guidance was incorrectly interpreted by some as including the impact of Tube Supply, which was later clarified in an 8-K that the 10-15% growth was for legacy businesses “organic growth” as well as the Tube Supply business separately.

Our full report is available to subscribers only and provides further thoughts on Castle’s 4Q earnings report and conference call as well as the implication for the stock and other equities.

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