Nucor Corp. (NUE)
NYSE:NUE
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Nucor
(NYSE:NUE)
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Rating:66Neutral
Price Target:
$232.00
â–²(18.45% Upside)
Action:ReiteratedDate:04/28/26
The score is driven by solid balance-sheet flexibility and a positive near-term operating/guidance setup from the earnings call (record shipments, backlog growth, higher Q2 earnings outlook), reinforced by strong technical trend strength. Offsetting these positives are compressed mid-cycle margins and notably weaker free-cash-flow conversion, plus a valuation (P/E ~21.6 with ~1.0% yield) that offers limited cushion for a cyclical business.
Positive Factors
Balance-sheet flexibility
Nucor’s controlled leverage and multi-billion dollar cash/liquidity position provide durable financial flexibility. This supports sustained capital allocation to growth projects, shareholder returns and working-capital needs through steel cycles, reducing refinancing risk and enabling opportunistic investments over the next 2–6 months.
Negative Factors
Compressed margins
Net margins have fallen substantially from prior-cycle highs, indicating weaker mid-cycle profitability and greater sensitivity to commodity price moves. Lower margin headroom means earnings are more exposed to raw-material and energy swings, reducing durable earnings power across cycles.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Balance-sheet flexibility
Nucor’s controlled leverage and multi-billion dollar cash/liquidity position provide durable financial flexibility. This supports sustained capital allocation to growth projects, shareholder returns and working-capital needs through steel cycles, reducing refinancing risk and enabling opportunistic investments over the next 2–6 months.
Read all positive factors
Nucor (NUE) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$51.49B
Dividend Yield1.34%
Average Volume (3M)1.34M
Price to Earnings (P/E)13.3
Beta (1Y)1.26
Revenue Growth5.73%
EPS Growth-10.36%
CountryUS
Employees32,700
SectorBasic Materials
Sector Strength58
IndustrySteel
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)10.11
Shares Outstanding227,774,610
10 Day Avg. Volume1,344,552
30 Day Avg. Volume1,340,844
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio-1.94
Price to Book (P/B)1.80
Price to Sales (P/S)1.16
P/FCF Ratio-200.16
Enterprise Value/Market Cap1.09
Enterprise Value/Revenue1.65
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit11.80
Enterprise Value/Ebitda11.47
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$237.57Price Target Upside21.29% Upside
Rating ConsensusStrong Buy
Number of Analyst Covering8
EPS Forecast (FY)14.03
Revenue Forecast (FY)$37.74B
Nucor Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Nucor Corporation manufactures and sells steel and steel products. The company's Steel Mills segment produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized sheet steel products; plate steel products; wide-flange beams, beam blanks, and H-piling and shee...
How the Company Makes Money
Nucor makes money mainly by producing and selling steel and steel products to customers across construction, manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, and other industrial end markets. Its core revenue streams are: (1) Steel mills: sales of commodity...
Nucor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Any
Earnings Before Tax by Segment
Highlights profitability across different business segments, indicating which areas are driving earnings and where there might be challenges or opportunities for growth.
Highlights profitability across different business segments, indicating which areas are driving earnings and where there might be challenges or opportunities for growth.
Data provided by:
The Fly
The FlyNucor Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Apr 27, 2026
(Q1-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Jul 27, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call emphasized strong operational execution and meaningful financial progress: record shipments, growing backlogs, substantial sequential earnings improvements across segments, robust liquidity and disciplined capital deployment. Growth projects are advancing toward commissioning and several recently completed projects have already turned EBITDA positive. Offsetting these positives are elevated pre-operating/start-up costs, margin pressure in some downstream products from higher input costs, energy cost uncertainty and pockets of softer end-market demand. On balance, the positives — including the earnings beat, record volumes, backlog growth, improved import dynamics and project momentum — outweigh the manageable near-term challenges.Positive Updates
Strong Q1 Financial Performance
Generated EBITDA of approximately $1.5 billion and net earnings of $743 million (EPS $3.23), beating the midpoint of guidance by nearly $0.50 per share.
Negative Updates
Pre-Operating and Start-Up Costs
Recorded $108 million of pre-operating and start-up costs in Q1, and management expects these costs to trend higher as commissioning and startup activity continues through 2026.
Read all updates
Q1-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Strong Q1 Financial Performance
Generated EBITDA of approximately $1.5 billion and net earnings of $743 million (EPS $3.23), beating the midpoint of guidance by nearly $0.50 per share.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Nucor guided to higher consolidated earnings in Q2 with improvement across all three operating segments—steel mills (stable volumes, increasing metal margins led by sheet and plate), Steel Products (higher volumes, stable pricing) and Raw Materials (higher DRI realizations)—and reiterated that 2026 shipments should grow by more than 5% (after ~6% growth in 2025) while U.S. steel consumption is expected to be flat to up ~2%. Key operating and balance-sheet metrics cited: Q1 EBITDA ≈ $1.5B and net earnings $743M ($3.23/share), record Q1 shipments of 7.0M tons, steel mills backlog of 4.7M tons (up 20% from year-end) and Steel Products backlog +9% from year-end; utilization ~87%; Q1 CapEx was $661M (≈40% toward the West Virginia sheet mill) with FY CapEx guidance of $2.5B; pre‑op/start‑up costs were $108M and will trend higher; cash ≈ $2.5B, liquidity $3.2B, debt/capital 24%; and the company returned $254M to shareholders in the quarter (~34% of Q1 net earnings) while targeting at least 40% of annual net earnings for shareholder returns—with management expecting 2026 earnings and free cash flow to be significantly higher than 2025 and the West Virginia mill commissioning complete by year‑end and commercial ramp in early 2027 (≈50% capacity by end‑2027).Nucor Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
62
Positive
Balance Sheet
74
Positive
Cash Flow
41
Neutral
| Breakdown | TTM | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 34.16B | 32.49B | 30.73B | 34.71B | 41.51B | 36.48B |
| Gross Profit | 4.77B | 3.88B | 4.10B | 7.82B | 12.50B | 11.03B |
| EBITDA | 4.91B | 4.11B | 4.49B | 7.69B | 11.57B | 10.23B |
| Net Income | 2.33B | 1.74B | 2.03B | 4.52B | 7.61B | 6.83B |
Balance Sheet | ||||||
| Total Assets | 35.63B | 35.10B | 33.94B | 35.34B | 32.48B | 25.82B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 2.48B | 2.70B | 4.14B | 7.13B | 4.86B | 2.62B |
| Total Debt | 7.12B | 7.12B | 6.95B | 6.84B | 6.69B | 5.68B |
| Total Liabilities | 13.09B | 12.98B | 12.52B | 13.22B | 12.91B | 11.22B |
| Stockholders Equity | 21.45B | 20.94B | 20.29B | 20.94B | 18.41B | 14.02B |
Cash Flow | ||||||
| Free Cash Flow | 532.00M | -188.00M | 806.00M | 4.90B | 8.12B | 4.61B |
| Operating Cash Flow | 3.76B | 3.23B | 3.98B | 7.11B | 10.07B | 6.23B |
| Investing Cash Flow | -2.49B | -3.23B | -3.73B | -2.50B | -5.70B | -2.87B |
| Financing Cash Flow | -2.20B | -1.31B | -3.06B | -2.59B | -2.51B | -3.60B |
Nucor Technical Analysis
Positive
195.87
Price Trends
175.83
Positive
171.23
Positive
155.88
Positive
Market Momentum
6.18
Negative
76.33
Negative
93.75
Negative
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For NUE, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 195.87 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 175.24, above the 50-day MA of 175.83, and above the 200-day MA of 155.88, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 6.18 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 76.33 is Negative, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 93.75 is Negative, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for NUE.
Nucor Risk Analysis
Nucor disclosed 17 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Nucor reported the most risks in the "Legal & Regulatory" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Nucor Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (61)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
77 Outperform | $18.68B | 14.73 | 11.18% | 1.63% | 8.49% | 9.68% | |
69 Neutral | $33.06B | 16.15 | 15.25% | 1.11% | 10.44% | 23.34% | |
66 Neutral | $51.49B | 13.28 | 11.16% | 1.34% | 5.73% | -10.36% | |
64 Neutral | $7.61B | 21.86 | 11.88% | 1.02% | 8.38% | 626.64% | |
63 Neutral | $42.94B | 17.20 | 5.87% | 1.03% | -1.31% | 149.74% | |
61 Neutral | $10.43B | 7.12 | -0.05% | 2.87% | 2.86% | -36.73% | |
51 Neutral | $23.19B | 14.72 | 1.19% | 3.22% | -5.70% | -9.39% |
* Basic Materials Sector Average
NUE
Nucor
226.04
107.35
90.45%
MT
ArcelorMittal
56.85
26.98
90.33%
CMC
Commercial Metals Company
68.66
23.59
52.35%
PKX
POSCO
78.71
32.25
69.41%
RS
Reliance Steel
365.85
75.78
26.12%
STLD
Steel Dynamics
229.27
97.93
74.56%
Nucor Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyStock BuybackDividendsFinancial Disclosures
Nucor Posts Strong First-Quarter Results and Shareholder Returns
Positive
Apr 27, 2026
On April 27, 2026, Nucor reported a strong first-quarter performance, with net earnings attributable to shareholders rising to $743 million, or $3.23 per diluted share, on net sales of $9.50 billion, sharply higher than both the fourth quarter of ...
Executive/Board Changes
Nucor Announces Executive Vice President Daniel Needham’s Retirement
Neutral
Mar 3, 2026
On March 3, 2026, Nucor Corporation announced that Daniel R. Needham, its Executive Vice President of Commercial, will retire effective June 20, 2026, after nearly 26 years with the company. Needham, 60, joined Nucor in 2000 and advanced through a...
Executive/Board Changes
Nucor Names New Chief Financial Officer and EVP
Positive
Feb 20, 2026
On February 19, 2026, Nucor’s board elected John L. “Jack” Sullivan, then Vice President, Treasurer and General Manager of Investor Relations, as Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Executive Vice President, effective March 1,...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.