Schnitzer Steel Industries (SCHN: sentiment, chart, options) is up more than 4% following its latest earnings report. The firm swallowed a fiscal first-quarter loss of $34 million, or $1.21 per share, reversing its year-ago profit of 85 cents. Revenue for the period slipped 17% to $498.6 million. Analysts were expecting SCHN to report a narrower loss of 75 cents per share on $417 million in revenue.

During the quarter, Schnitzer experienced "a rapid and precipitous drop in both sales volumes and sales prices in all business segments," according to President and CEO Tamara Lundgren. The firm reduced output by roughly 40% during the quarter, and trimmed its full-time work force by more than 10%.

While the company warned that shipments and prices are expected to slip in the second quarter, SCHN also reported some good news. The board approved an increase to Schnitzer's share-buyback program, which will be boosted from 1.5 million shares to 4.5 million shares.

Heading into today's report, option players had low expectations for SCHN. The stock has garnered a 10-day put/call ratio of 2.37 on the International Securities Exchange, with bullish buys more than doubling their bearish counterparts. This ratio ranks just 7 percentage points from an annual pessimistic peak. These low expectations likely helped contribute to the stock's post-earnings pop today.