Nucor Projects Higher Q3 Earnings on Improved Steel Pricing
Nucor Corporation NUE announced its guidance for the third quarter of 2026. For the quarter ending on Oct. 3, earnings are expected to increase sequentially, supported by higher selling prices in the Steel Mills segment and higher volumes and higher average realized pricing in the Steel Products segment.The company projects earnings for the quarter to range between $5.55 and $5.65 per share.
Nucor reported net earnings per share of $5.04 and adjusted net earnings of $4.84 in the second quarter of 2026. Earnings were $2.63 per share in the third quarter of 2025.
Nucor anticipates improved sequential results due to higher earnings in its Steel Mills and Steel Products segments, partially offset by weaker performance in Raw Materials. The Steel Mills segment is expected to benefit from higher average selling prices and stable volumes. Increased costs of products sold and the absence of its prior-period’s benefit derived from $130 million in cash refunds related to raw material procurement costs will weigh on the comparative performance. Meanwhile, higher volumes and pricing are expected to support the Steel Products segment. Raw Materials earnings are projected to decline due to lower pricing and shipments.
Nucor continues to return capital to shareholders by repurchasing shares during the third quarter. It repurchased approximately 2.03 million shares at an average price of $247.04 per share. Year to date, it has returned approximately $1.36 billion through share repurchases and dividend payments. Nucor plans to release its third-quarter results on Oct. 26, 2026.
NUE’s shares have gained 84.4% in the past year compared with the industry’s 69.2% rise in the same period.
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NUE’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks
NUE currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Reliance, Inc. RS, Kronos Worldwide, Inc. KRO and Avient Corporation AVNT.
While RS currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), KRO and AVNT carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RS’ 2026 earnings is pegged at $22.23 per share, indicating a 55.89% year-over-year increase. RS’shares have gained 36.7% over the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KRO’s 2026 earnings is pegged at 35 cents per share, indicating a rise of 136.46% year over year. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters while missing it in the rest, with an average surprise of 33.99%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVNT’s current-year earnings is pinned at $3.2 per share, indicating a 13.48% year-over-year increase. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 3.4%. AVNT’s shares have gained 16.2% over the past year.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
