Steel Mills

Nucor Guides to Higher Earnings for Q1

March 16, 2017

Nucor Corporation increased its earnings guidance for first quarter 2017 to $1.10-$1.15 per diluted share, more than double its consolidated net earnings of $0.50 per diluted share in fourth quarter and well above analyst consensus of $0.69 EPS.

Increased profitability is due to stronger performance of Nucor’s sheet and plate mills. Nucor said in its earnings guidance that it is encouraged by the renewed demand in nonresidential construction and energy markets. Automotive remains strong, noted Nucor, while the heavy equipment market remains weak.

The company also praised trade cases that are helping to “stop the flood of dumped and subsidized products from foreign producers,” noting especially the rebar and cut-to-length plate case determinations.

Nucor Steel Louisiana is back in operation after an unplanned outage in early February from equipment failure. Nucor used the downtime to complete planned maintenance activities ahead of schedule.

Despite the outage at Louisiana, Nucor expects the raw materials segment in first quarter to outperform fourth quarter due to improved performance of its scrap processing and brokerage operations and its DRI facility in Trinidad.