Mobarakeh Steel Hits Buy-Queue Lock Monday, Gains 2.99%; Still 8.1% Below Its Pre-Halt Price

Mobarakeh Steel Isfahan (ticker: فولاد, "Fooulad") closed Monday, August 17, 2026 up 2.99%, locked at its daily price-band ceiling of 2,342 rials with buy orders queued at every one of the five order-book levels and not a single share offered for sale. It is the stock's first full buy-queue lock since it resumed trading on August 8 after a five-month halt, coming just one day after the stock touched its lowest intraday price since reopening, 2,182 rials.

Background

Mobarakeh Steel, Iran's largest steelmaker, had been halted for roughly five months over war-related damage before reopening on Saturday, August 8, 2026 at an opening price of 2,305 rials and closing that first day at 2,332 rials, about 8.5% below its last real pre-halt trade of 2,549 rials. Sahmino previously covered the reopening and the stock's price-to-earnings gap against its sector in a dedicated report. Over its first four sessions back (August 8 to 11) the closing price moved between 2,286 and 2,333 rials, then turned lower: it closed at 2,219 rials on Saturday, August 15, and touched an intraday low of 2,182 rials on Sunday, August 16 (yesterday) before rebounding to close that day at 2,274 rials; that 2,182-rial print is the stock's low since reopening. This swing came as Mobarakeh Steel's annual shareholder meeting on August 2 had already capped the shareholder dividend because of the same war damage.

By the numbers

• Today's closing price was 2,342 rials, up 2.99% (68 rials) from yesterday's 2,274 rials. Today's low, high and opening price were all exactly 2,342 rials too: the stock was locked at its ceiling from the opening bell. Tehran Stock Exchange's own official live data system (tsetmc.com) confirms this figure independently.
• The buy queue was complete: demand was recorded at all five order-book levels with no sell orders at any of them; nearly 2 billion unmet shares sat queued to buy.
• Today's trade value was roughly 261 billion tomans on more than 1.116 billion shares.
• Retail (individual) investors bought a net of nearly 1 billion shares today, worth an estimated 235 billion tomans; the average retail buy order was about 270 million tomans versus an average sell order of about 21 million tomans, roughly 13 times larger.
• Per Sahmino's nightly reading, Mobarakeh Steel's P/E ratio is 4.52, less than half the 10.2 sector average for basic metals; trailing-twelve-month EPS is 518 rials and free float is 36%.
• Market capitalization is roughly 453 trillion tomans.
• Today's close is 8.12% below the stock's last real pre-halt trade of 2,549 rials.

Drivers

Today's buy queue formed amid a broader stock-market rally: Tehran's TEDPIX index also jumped 2.3% today to a fresh record of 5,897,949 points. But the session's own buy and sell data shows the main force behind Mobarakeh Steel's queue was heavy retail buying, not simply riding the index: institutions sold a net of nearly 1 billion shares today, and retail investors not only absorbed that supply but kept the buy queue full through the close. The same pattern showed up over the prior two sessions: yesterday retail bought a net of about 2.16 billion shares (roughly 491 billion tomans), even though the day before, Saturday, August 15, the same investor group had net-sold about 989 million shares (roughly 219 billion tomans) and driven the stock down to its low. In other words, the retail traders who sold the stock last week are the ones buying it back today.

Outlook

If the buy queue holds tomorrow, the stock's next test is the 2,500-rial channel and then 2,549 rials, its last pre-halt price, a gap that stood at roughly 14% two days ago and has now narrowed to 8.1%. Sahmino does not give buy or sell recommendations. Long-halted Tehran Stock Exchange symbols typically see several volatile sessions before the market settles on a real price, and a single day's buy queue is no guarantee the move continues, just as last week's selling pressure did not.

Bottom line

Mobarakeh Steel posted its first full buy-queue lock since reopening on Monday, August 17, 2026, gaining 2.99%, just one day after printing its lowest price since resuming trading at 2,182 rials. The move was driven by heavy retail buying while institutions were the session's main sellers. Even so, the stock remains 8.1% below its last real pre-halt price, and its P/E of 4.52 is still less than half its sector's average.

What to watch

Whether the buy queue holds tomorrow or breaks as fresh sell orders arrive; how retail traders behave in the coming sessions after this week's sharp swing; and the remaining gap to 2,549 rials, now the stock's last psychological marker before a full return to its pre-halt price. For a live quote, see Mobarakeh Steel's price page on Sahmino.