Nucor Beats Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates, Hits Record Shipments

NUE beat on both lines and set a second consecutive quarterly shipment record. Adjusted EPS of $4.84 cleared the roughly $4.46 to $4.57 consensus, and net sales of $10.40 billion topped estimates of approximately $10.15 to $10.31 billion, rising 9% sequentially and 23% year over year. Net earnings were $1.16 billion, or $5.04 per diluted share on a GAAP basis.

Volume and price moved together, which is the combination steel investors look for. Steel mill shipments hit a record 7.1 million tons, while average external pricing rose 7% sequentially to $1,145 per ton. The steel mills segment generated $1.56 billion in pre-tax earnings, up from $1.13 billion in the prior quarter. Nucor attributed the strength to investment across US industrial end markets alongside supportive federal trade policy.

Guidance points higher again. Management expects third-quarter consolidated earnings above the second quarter, with steel mills benefiting from higher realized pricing across major product categories on stable volumes, and steel products gaining on both volume and price.

Some observers read the print as leaving the shares undervalued, including a GuruFocus assessment putting the stock roughly 4% below fair value with the dividend affirmed. The obvious caution is that record shipments and rising realized prices are the top of a cyclical setup, and steel pricing has historically reversed faster than volumes. Watch scrap costs and import volumes as the earliest indicators of that turn.

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