Nucor's Q4 Guidance Misses The Mark, Hit By Steel Slowdown; Stock Slides

Nucor Corporation NUE shares are trading lower premarket today. On Monday, the company provided fourth-quarter guidance, expecting EPS of $0.55 – $0.65 vs. the consensus of $0.86.

The primary factor driving the expected earnings decline is lower earnings in the steel mills segment due to decreased volumes and lower average selling prices.

The company projects earnings in the steel products segment to decline, reflecting the same trends. However, the raw materials segment is anticipated to see an increase in earnings, excluding the impairment charge from the third quarter of 2024.

Nucor reported net earnings of $1.05 per share in the third quarter of 2024 and $3.16 per share in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Notably, during the third-quarter earnings release, Nucor stated that it expects the fourth quarter earnings per share to decrease compared to $1.05 reported for the third quarter amid decreased steel mill segment earnings caused by lower average selling prices and decreased volumes.

In the fourth quarter, Nucor repurchased around 2.1 million shares at an average price of $149.81 per share, bringing the total year-to-date repurchases to 13.1 million shares at an average price of $168.75 per share.

Nucor has returned over $2.73 billion to stockholders through share repurchases and dividend payments so far this year.

In October, the company reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $1.49 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.47 and revenue of $7.44 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $7.28 billion.

Nucor plans to release its fourth-quarter results on Monday, January 27, 2025.

Investors can gain exposure to the stock via VanEck Steel ETF SLX and First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund FXZ.

Price Action: NUE shares are down 1.51% at $122.29 premarket at the last check Tuesday.

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