Steel Mills

Downside Earnings Guidance for Nucor

December 11, 2019

Nucor is expecting its earnings to decrease in the fourth quarter, according to just released guidance estimates. Earnings are expected in the range of $0.25 to $0.30 per diluted share, down from third-quarter earnings of $0.90 per share.

Nucor’s steel mills segment will be impacted in the fourth quarter by lower steel prices that occurred late in the third quarter. Going forward, Nucor expects higher prices for domestic scrap metal and price increases by its sheet, plate, structural and bar mills in Q4 to support improved performance heading into 2020.

Profitability in the steel product segment is expected to decrease slightly from the third quarter due to normal year-end seasonality. The segment, however, is expected to post its best fourth-quarter results ever and report significantly higher earnings compared to Q4 2018.

A third-quarter maintenance outage at the Louisiana DRI plant will contribute to losses in the raw material segment as well as margin compression throughout the raw materials businesses, the company said.