Nucor's Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates in Q1, Down Y/Y

Nucor Corporation NUE reported earnings of 67 cents per share for first-quarter 2025, down from $3.46 in the year-ago quarter. 

Barring one-time items, NUE recorded earnings of 77 cents per share, down from $3.46 a year ago. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 68 cents.

The company recorded net sales of $7,830 million, down around 4% year over year. The figure, however, topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7,215.4 million. The top line was impacted by lower sales prices, which offset higher shipments.

(Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

Nucor Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Nucor Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Nucor Corporation Quote

NUE's Operating Figures

Total sales tons to outside customers for steel mills in the first quarter were 5,226,000 tons, up 12% year over year. The figure beat our estimate of 4,609,000 tons.

Average sales price per ton fell 12% from the prior-year quarter and also declined 2% sequentially.

The company's steel mills' overall operating rates were 80% in the reported quarter, compared with 74% in the fourth quarter of 2024 and 82% in the first quarter of 2024.

NUE's Segment Highlights

Earnings for the company's steel mills unit increased sequentially in the reported quarter due to higher volumes.

In the reported quarter, earnings in the steel products segment declined from the prior quarter due to lower average selling prices.

The raw materials segment saw lower earnings compared to the fourth quarter of 2024 due to reduced margins at NUE’s scrap processing operations and direct reduced iron facilities. 

NUE's Financial Position

Nucor's cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments were $4.06 billion at the end of the reported quarter. The company amended and restated its revolving credit facility on March 11, 2025, to increase the borrowing capacity to $2.25 billion from $1.75 billion and to extend its maturity date to March 11, 2030. The revolving credit facility remains undrawn. 

NUE's Outlook

Nucor expects earnings in the second quarter of 2025 to increase sequentially. The company expects second-quarter earnings to rise across its segments, with the biggest increase in the steel mills unit. The anticipated increase in the steel mills segment earnings is mainly due to higher average selling prices at its sheet and plate mills.

NUE's Stock Price Performance

Shares of Nucor have moved down 30.8% in a year compared with the Zacks Steel Producers industry’s 35.7% decline.

NUE’s Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

NUE currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Hawkins, Inc. HWKN, Kinross Gold Corporation KGC and Intrepid Potash, Inc. IPI. While HWKN carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), KGC and IPI carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Hawkins is expected to report fiscal fourth-quarter results on May 21. The consensus estimate for Hawkins’ fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 74 cents. HWKN beat the consensus estimate in one of the last four quarters while missing thrice, with the average earnings surprise being 6.1%. 

Kinross Gold is scheduled to release first-quarter results on May 6. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KGC’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at 22 cents. OR has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 23.7%, on average.  

Intrepid Potash is slated to release first-quarter results on May 5. The consensus estimate for IPI’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at a loss of 12 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings has been stable over the past 60 days.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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