Nucor Announces Guidance for the Second Quarter of 2025 Earnings

Rhea-AI Summary

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) has provided Q2 2025 earnings guidance, projecting earnings of $2.55 to $2.65 per diluted share, compared to $0.67 in Q1 2025 and $2.68 in Q2 2024. The company expects improvements across all operating segments, with the steel mills segment showing the largest increase due to higher selling prices for sheet and plate mills. The steel products segment anticipates better performance from stable pricing, higher volumes, and lower costs. During Q2, Nucor repurchased 1.8 million shares at $111.89 per share average, bringing year-to-date repurchases to 4.0 million shares at $123.75 average. Total shareholder returns year-to-date reached approximately $755 million through share repurchases and dividends.

Positive

• Expected Q2 2025 earnings of $2.55-2.65 per share represent a significant increase from Q1 2025's $0.67
• Anticipated earnings improvement across all three operating segments
• Higher average selling prices at sheet and plate mills driving steel mills segment growth
• Strong shareholder returns with $755 million returned through buybacks and dividends year-to-date
• Steel products segment benefits from stable pricing, higher volumes, and lower average costs per ton

Negative

• Q2 2025 projected earnings slightly lower than Q2 2024's $2.68 per share
• Higher average share repurchase price in Q2 ($123.75) compared to current quarter ($111.89) indicates declining stock value

Insights

Steel Industry Financial Analyst

Nucor's Q2 2025 guidance shows significant sequential improvement across all segments with strong capital returns to shareholders.

Nucor's Q2 2025 guidance of $2.55-$2.65 per diluted share represents a dramatic 280% improvement from Q1's $0.67, though it's slightly below the $2.68 reported in Q2 2024. The strongest recovery is expected in the steel mills segment, driven by higher selling prices in sheet and plate products – typically the most volatile and profitable product categories in steel manufacturing.

The steel products segment (which includes downstream value-added products) shows encouraging stabilization with higher volumes, stable pricing, and improved cost metrics – suggesting the demand environment is strengthening after several difficult quarters. The raw materials segment improvement indicates better scrap spreads, which typically correlates with wider mill margins.

Notably, Nucor has aggressively repurchased shares, buying back 1.8 million shares at $111.89 average price in Q2 alone (4 million shares YTD at $123.75). Combined with dividends, the company has returned $755 million to shareholders year-to-date, demonstrating confidence in their financial position despite recent volatility in steel markets.

The sequential improvement across all segments suggests the steel market bottomed in Q1 2025, with Q2 showing early signs of a cyclical recovery. However, the slight year-over-year decline compared to Q2 2024 indicates the recovery remains in early stages and hasn't yet returned to previous peak conditions.

CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) today announced guidance for its second quarter ending July 5, 2025. Nucor expects second quarter earnings to be in the range of $2.55 to $2.65 per diluted share. Nucor reported net earnings of $0.67 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2025 and $2.68 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2024.

Second Quarter of 2025 Commentary
Earnings in the second quarter of 2025 are expected to increase across all three of our operating segments, with the largest increase in the steel mills segment. The expected increase in the steel mills segment earnings is primarily due to higher average selling prices at our sheet and plate mills. Earnings in the steel products segment are expected to increase in the second quarter of 2025 as compared to the first quarter of 2025 due to a combination of stable overall pricing, higher volumes and lower average costs per ton. The raw materials segment is expected to have increased earnings in the second quarter of 2025.

During the second quarter, Nucor has repurchased approximately 1.8 million shares at an average price of $111.89 per share (approximately 4.0 million shares year-to-date at an average price of $123.75 per share). Nucor has returned approximately $755 million to stockholders in the form of share repurchases and dividend payments year-to-date.

Second Quarter of 2025 Earnings Release and Conference Call
Nucor plans to release its earnings after the markets close on Monday, July 28, 2025, and will host a conference call the morning of Tuesday, July 29, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to review the Company's second quarter results. The event will be broadcast on the internet, and instructions on how to access will be sent closer to the call.

About Nucor
Nucor and its affiliates are manufacturers of steel and steel products, with operating facilities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Products produced include: carbon and alloy steel -- in bars, beams, sheet and plate; hollow structural section tubing; electrical conduit; steel racking; steel piling; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; precision castings; steel fasteners; metal building systems; insulated metal panels; overhead doors; steel grating; wire and wire mesh; and utility structures. Nucor, through The David J. Joseph Company and its affiliates, also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and hot briquetted iron / direct reduced iron; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap. Nucor is North America's largest recycler.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties which we expect will or may occur in the future and may impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. The words "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "intend," "project," "may," "will," "should," "could" and similar expressions are intended to identify those forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company's best judgment based on current information, and, although we base these statements on circumstances that we believe to be reasonable when made, there can be no assurance that future events will not affect the accuracy of such forward-looking information. As such, the forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may vary materially from the projected results and expectations discussed in this news release. Factors that might cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (1) competitive pressure on sales and pricing, including pressure from imports and substitute materials; (2) U.S. and foreign trade policies affecting steel imports or exports; (3) the sensitivity of the results of our operations to general market conditions, and in particular, prevailing market steel prices and changes in the supply and cost of raw materials, including pig iron, iron ore and scrap steel; (4) the availability and cost of electricity and natural gas, which could negatively affect our cost of steel production or result in a delay or cancellation of existing or future drilling within our natural gas drilling programs; (5) critical equipment failures and business interruptions; (6) market demand for steel products, which, in the case of many of our products, is driven by the level of nonresidential construction activity in the United States; (7) impairment in the recorded value of inventory, equity investments, fixed assets, goodwill or other long-lived assets; (8) uncertainties and volatility surrounding the global economy, including excess world capacity for steel production, inflation and interest rate changes; (9) fluctuations in currency conversion rates; (10) significant changes in laws or government regulations affecting environmental compliance, including legislation and regulations that result in greater regulation of greenhouse gas emissions that could increase our energy costs, capital expenditures and operating costs or cause one or more of our permits to be revoked or make it more difficult to obtain permit modifications; (11) the cyclical nature of the steel industry; (12) capital investments and their impact on our performance; (13) our safety performance; (14) our ability to integrate businesses we acquire; and (15) the impact of any pandemic or public health situation. These and other factors are discussed in Nucor's regulatory filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including those in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of Nucor's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release speak only as of this date, and Nucor does not assume any obligation to update them, except as may be required by applicable law.

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SOURCE Nucor Corporation

FAQ

What is Nucor's earnings guidance for Q2 2025?

Nucor expects Q2 2025 earnings to be between $2.55 and $2.65 per diluted share.

How does NUE's Q2 2025 guidance compare to previous quarters?

The Q2 2025 guidance of $2.55-$2.65 is significantly higher than Q1 2025's $0.67 but slightly lower than Q2 2024's $2.68 per share.

How many shares has Nucor repurchased in Q2 2025?

Nucor repurchased approximately 1.8 million shares at an average price of $111.89 per share during Q2 2025.

What is driving Nucor's expected earnings improvement in Q2 2025?

The improvement is driven by higher average selling prices at sheet and plate mills, stable pricing and higher volumes in steel products, and increased earnings in the raw materials segment.

How much has Nucor returned to shareholders in 2025 so far?

Nucor has returned approximately $755 million to stockholders through share repurchases and dividend payments year-to-date.