Nucor Corporation (NUE)

Nucor reported third-quarter 2026 net earnings attributable to its stockholders of $1.32 billion, or $5.80 per diluted share, on 26 October 1. Net sales were $11.25 billion 1. A year earlier, third-quarter earnings were $607 million, or $2.63 per diluted share 1.

SteelOrbis reported that net sales were up 32.0 percent from the same quarter last year, and shipments to outside customers were 7.53 million short tons, up 11.2 percent 13. The release says the steel mills increase came from higher average selling prices and increased volumes, partly offset by higher costs 1. Second-quarter steel mills costs had been cut by $130 million of cash refunds on earlier raw material purchases, which did not recur 1.

Chair and Chief Executive Leon Topalian said Nucor generated approximately $2.7 billion of free cash flow and returned nearly $1.4 billion to shareholders in the first nine months of the year 1. Nucor expects fourth-quarter 2026 earnings to be generally in-line with or modestly higher than the third quarter 1.

The open question is the West Virginia sheet mill, which made its first heat in September 1. Nucor's presentation says the mill is building to a 50 percent utilization run rate by the end of 2027 2.

The presentation also says finished steel imports through the third quarter of 2026 are down about 13 percent from 2025 2. It adds that import market share has grown from about 14 percent to about 17 percent since the end of last year 2.

Nucor is a Delaware corporation incorporated in 1958 that makes steel and steel products, mainly from recycled scrap melted in electric arc furnaces 3. Because it melts scrap rather than smelting iron ore, it can raise or cut output quickly as demand moves 3. The 2022 annual report said Nucor had raised its base dividend every year since it began paying dividends in 1973 10.

Nucor reported net earnings of $6.83 billion, or $23.16 per diluted share, in 2021, then a new record of $7.61 billion, or $28.79 per diluted share, in 2022 10.

The 2022 gain came mostly from steel products 10. Average sales price per ton rose 26 percent from $1,292 in 2021 to $1,626 in 2022 10. The steel products segment's earnings more than tripled its 2021 record, led by joist and deck on strong nonresidential construction demand 10.

Steel mills earned less in 2022 because sheet prices fell each quarter on softer demand and imports 10. Utilization of the steel mills segment dropped to 77 percent in 2022 from 94 percent in 2021, and energy and labor costs rose 10.

Nucor also expanded beyond steel mills in 2021 10. In August 2021 it paid about $1.00 billion for the insulated metal panel business of Cornerstone Building Brands, CENTRIA and Metl-Span, and $370 million for Hannibal, a warehouse racking maker 10.

In February 2022 it took control of California Steel Industries by buying a 50% stake from a Vale subsidiary for $400 million, adjusted for net debt and working capital 10. It bought C.H.I. Overhead Doors in June 2022 and the utility pole makers that became Nucor Towers & Structures in August 2022 10.

Big plants followed 12. A roughly $650 million upgrade of the Gallatin sheet mill in Kentucky finished in July 2022, and the roughly $1.70 billion Brandenburg plate mill rolled its first plate in December 2022 12.

The West Virginia sheet mill was announced in January 2022 10. Nucor's estimated net cash outlay rose from $2.7 billion to $3.1 billion by February 2023, and total construction costs to approximately $4 billion by February 2025 103.

Earnings then fell as prices eased 11. Net earnings were $4.52 billion in 2023, with the average sales price per ton down 15 percent from $1,626 to $1,377, and $2.03 billion in 2024, with the price down 10 percent to $1,241 1112.

In 2024 the joist and deck businesses, which had peaked in 2022, drove most of the drop in the steel products segment 12. Nucor also bought Southwest Data Products in April 2024 for $115 million and Rytec in July 2024 for $565 million 3.

In 2025 net earnings were $1.74 billion, or $7.52 per diluted share, against $2.03 billion in 2024 3. Tons shipped to outside customers rose 7 percent to 26,615,000 while the average price per ton slipped from $1,241 to $1,221 3.

Imports fell in 2025 after the Section 232 steel tariffs were fully reinstated, and steel mill operating rates rose to 83 percent from 76 percent 3. First-half 2026 earnings were $1.90 billion, or $8.27 per diluted share, against $759 million a year earlier 4.

Steel mills

The steel mills segment is Nucor's largest, at 62 percent of sales to outside customers in 2025, and sold about 19,848,000 tons outside the company that year 3.

It runs 15 bar mills, six sheet mills, two structural mills and three plate mills, making sheet, plate, beams and bar for service centers, fabricators and manufacturers 3. The sheet mills can make about 14,500,000 tons a year and the bar mills about 9,800,000 3.

About 85 percent of 2025 sheet sales went to contract customers, with prices reset monthly or quarterly against market indices 3. The segment's average sales price was $1,008 a ton in 2025, close to $1,013 in 2024 3.

Total steel mills shipments in the latest quarter were 7,231 thousand tons, 2 percent above the prior quarter and 12 percent above the same quarter a year earlier 2. Steel mills earned $1,788 million before income taxes and noncontrolling interests, against $793 million a year earlier 1.

The segment's order backlog was approximately $3.35 billion at the end of 2025, up from $2.13 billion a year before 3. The mills' output is the main input of the steel products segment, which took 21 percent of it in 2025 3.

Steel products

This segment turns steel into things builders use: joists and decking, tubing and conduit, fabricated rebar, metal buildings, insulated metal panels, racking, overhead doors and utility towers 3. Its markets are mostly nonresidential construction and infrastructure 3.

In 2025 joist and deck sales were 871 thousand tons, up 22 percent, rebar fabrication 1,179 thousand tons, up 16 percent, and tubular products 947 thousand tons, up 11 percent 3.

Segment net sales rose 2 percent in 2025 on a 9 percent rise in volume, while the average price per ton fell 6 percent from $2,510 to $2,348 3. Earnings before income taxes were $1,229 million against $1,596 million in 2024 3.

Nucor's presentation says joist and deck led the latest quarter's earnings growth, with shipments up 20 percent and realized pricing up $110 a ton 2. It adds that backlogs extend into mid-2027 for many products 2.

The segment's order backlog was approximately $4.46 billion at the end of 2025, against $4.02 billion a year before 3. Nucor calls itself the nation's leading producer of open-web steel joists and of pre-engineered metal buildings 3.

Utility towers and structures

Nucor Towers & Structures makes steel poles and structures for utility lines, with plants in Decatur, Alabama, Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Brigham City, Utah and a site at Crawfordsville, Indiana 23. Nucor's presentation says its backlog has more than doubled this year and extends into the first quarter of 2028 2.

Raw materials

The raw materials segment makes direct reduced iron (DRI), a purified iron substitute for scrap, at two plants in Trinidad and Louisiana, and sells and processes scrap through The David J. Joseph Company (DJJ) 3. Its outside sales were $2,164 million in 2025, up 13 percent 3.

DJJ runs six regional scrap recyclers able to process about 6,800,000 tons of ferrous scrap a year, and Nucor recycled approximately 20 million gross tons of scrap in 2025 3. The segment also owns natural gas wells in Colorado and an industrial gas business 3.

Plants and land

The largest steel mill by floor area in the 10-K's property list is Fontana, California, at 4,020,000 square feet, followed by Hickman, Arkansas, at 2,740,000 3. Average operating rates in 2025 were 83 percent for steel mills, 62 percent for steel products and 70 percent for raw materials 3.

Beyond the named sites, steel products has 91 operating facilities in 39 states plus 28 in Canada and two in Mexico, and raw materials has 84 operating facilities in 19 states and one in Trinidad 3. The Louisiana DRI site covers about 174 million square feet of owned land 3.

People

Leon Topalian has been chief executive since January 2020 and chair since September 2022 3. The board named Stephen Laxton president and chief operating officer from 1 January 2026, and Jack Sullivan, the investor relations head, chief financial officer from 1 March 2026 87.

Two executive vice presidents retired in 2026: David Sumoski, the former chief operating officer, on 13 June and Daniel Needham, who led commercial, effective 20 June 89.

Nucor employs approximately 33,000 teammates, its word for employees, and most are not in unions 3. It has historically put 10 percent of pre-tax earnings into a profit-sharing plan for most staff below officer level 3.

Rivals and trade

Nucor's proxy lists Cleveland-Cliffs, Commercial Metals, Metallus, Radius Recycling, Steel Dynamics and Worthington Steel as its steel comparator group for pay 5. The annual report names rivals of three kinds: integrated blast-furnace producers, other electric arc mills and imports 3.

Nucor says 142 antidumping and countervailing duty orders cover core steel product lines it makes 3. In 2025 finished carbon and alloy steel imports fell 17.4 percent and supplied approximately 18 percent of U.S. demand 3.

Current problems

The EPA alleged Clean Air Act violations at Nucor Steel Louisiana, the DRI plant, in 2022, and a combined settlement with the Justice Department, the EPA and Louisiana is being negotiated 3. Nucor does not expect it to be material 3.

Pre-operating and start-up costs of new facilities, which Nucor expenses, were approximately $496 million in 2025, mostly for the Kentucky plate mill, the West Virginia sheet mill and an Arizona melt shop 3.

The umbrella, in words

Nucor's brands include AEOS high-strength beams, ECONIQ net-zero carbon steel, Vulcraft and Verco, CENTRIA and Metl-Span panels, C.H.I. Overhead Doors, Rytec, Skyline Steel and Nucor Towers & Structures 3. The Buildings group sells under Nucor Building Systems, American Buildings Company and Kirby Building Systems 3.

Exhibit 21 to the 10-K lists subsidiaries including California Steel Industries, Nucor-Yamato Steel Company (Limited Partnership), Nu-Iron Unlimited in Trinidad, The David J. Joseph Company and Nucor-JFE Steel Mexico 6. It is a list of subsidiaries, not all of them listed on any exchange 6.

Nucor owns a 51% controlling interest in Nucor-Yamato, California Steel Industries and Nucor-JFE Steel Mexico, a joint venture with JFE Steel of Japan 3. It owns 50% of NuMit, whose subsidiary Steel Technologies runs 30 sheet processing facilities 3.

Nucor invested in Helion, a fusion energy company, and recorded a $61 million non-cash increase in its value in the second quarter of 2026 after Helion completed a financing round 4. It has also invested in Electra, an iron-making start-up, and agreed a partnership with Tata Steel on HIsarna ironmaking 3.

Nucor agreed in 2023 with ExxonMobil to capture carbon dioxide from the Louisiana DRI plant, and the company says ExxonMobil will pay a fee per ton to Nucor and receive the tax credits 3. Nucor's 10-Q also notes an investment in a publicly traded nuclear power equipment manufacturer 4.

Nucor's proxy reports four holders of more than 5 percent of the stock, based on 227,636,112 shares outstanding on 27 February 2026 5. Vanguard held 29,514,066 shares, 12.97 percent, as of 29 December 2023, per a Schedule 13G/A filed 13 February 2024 5.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance and related entities held 25,986,693 shares, 11.42 percent, as of 31 December 2023, per a Schedule 13G/A filed 12 February 2024 5. BlackRock held 16,988,988 shares, 7.46 percent, as of 31 March 2025, per a Schedule 13G/A filed 24 April 2025 5.

State Street held 12,133,411 shares, 5.33 percent, as of 31 March 2025, per a Schedule 13G filed 13 May 2025 5.

Nucor expects fourth-quarter 2026 earnings to be generally in-line with or modestly higher than the third quarter 1. It expects stable steel mills earnings, stable steel products earnings and slightly lower raw materials earnings on lower DRI pricing 1.

The West Virginia sheet mill is expected to have annual capacity of approximately 3,000,000 tons, and Nucor expects a net cash outlay of approximately $3.65 billion after West Virginia's $350 million commitment 3. The October presentation says production begins in 2027, with a 50 percent utilization run rate targeted by year-end 2027 2.

Capital spending for 2026 is estimated at approximately $2.50 billion, against $3.42 billion in 2025, the 10-Q says 4. The largest projects are the West Virginia mill, two towers and structures plants, and a galvanizing line in South Carolina 4.

The 10-K planned the Crawfordsville, Indiana towers plant for 2026 and the Brigham City, Utah plant for 2027 3. Nucor's presentation says it announced a $165 million expansion at Indiana and Alabama facilities in October 2026 2.

The ExxonMobil carbon capture project, which the 10-K expected to start in late 2026, began operations in the third quarter of 2026, the presentation says 32. ExxonMobil will capture between 600,000 and 800,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year from the Louisiana plant 3.

The board declared a dividend of $0.56 per share on 18 September 2026, payable 10 November 2026, the 214th consecutive quarterly cash dividend 1. A share repurchase program of up to $4.00 billion was approved on 20 February 2026 4.

Nucor says it intends to return at least 40 percent of its net income to stockholders over time through dividends and share repurchases 3. It expects to spend approximately $250 million on safety and environmental projects in 2026 3.