Nucor reported adjusted earnings of $4.84 per share against the $4.38 analysts expected, on revenue of $10.40 billion. Steel mill shipments set a second consecutive quarterly record, yet shares slipped about 0.2% after hours.
Nucor (NYSE: NUE) beat on both lines and the market barely moved. Adjusted EPS came in at $4.84 versus $4.38 expected, a 10.5% beat, while shares fell about 0.2% after hours.
Revenue reached $10.40 billion against $10.14 billion expected, roughly 2.5% ahead and up 23% y/y. Reported EPS of $5.04 includes a $0.20 non-cash benefit tied to a markup in Nucor's Helion fusion-energy stake.
Steel mills carried the quarter
Segment pre-tax earnings jumped to $1.56 billion from $1.13 billion in Q1. Shipments set a second consecutive quarterly record at 7.1 million tons, and average external pricing rose 7% sequentially to $1,145/ton.
Chair and Chief Executive Officer Leon Topalian credited investment across key sectors of the U.S. economy and supportive federal trade policies for what he described as "a second consecutive quarterly record for Nucor steel mill shipments".
Company-wide EBITDA reached $2.02 billion, up from $1.51 billion in Q1 and $1.30 billion a year ago, a 33% gain quarter-over-quarter. Free cash flow of $829 million marked a swing of more than $1 billion from the -$222 million posted in Q2 2025.
Tariffs are re-shaping the import map
Nucor's own trade-flow data shows finished carbon and alloy steel import market share falling to roughly 16% in H1 2026, down from 21% in 2025 and 23% in 2024. The Section 232 "reboot" shows up product by product: HR sheet imports fell 40% year-over-year, corrosion-resistant sheet 36% and coiled plate 42%.
Next quarter, Nucor guided Q3 earnings higher than Q2, with steel mills seeing higher realized pricing on stable volumes, steel products benefiting from both higher volumes and pricing, and raw materials easing on lower scrap margins.
Cash went back to shareholders
Nucor returned $479 million to shareholders in the quarter, split between $350 million in buybacks and $129 million in dividends, and declared its 213th consecutive quarterly dividend. Debt-to-cap stands at 23%.
On valuation, the company trades at about 14x this year's consensus earnings and 13.3x 2027 consensus. InvestingLive's Adam Button suspects much of the tariff dynamic was already priced in after STLD and CLF reported earlier.
Source: InvestingLive
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