Nucor Corporation NUE reported adjusted earnings of $4.84 per share for the second quarter of 2026. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.57. On a reported basis, earnings were $5.04 per share, up from $2.60 in the year-ago quarter.
The company recorded net sales of roughly $10.4 billion, up 23% year over year. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of roughly $10.06 billion.
Nucor Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Nucor Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Nucor Corporation Quote
Operating Figures
Total sales tons to outside customers for steel mills in the second quarter were 5,659,000 tons, up 12% year over year and 1% sequentially. The figure surpassed our estimate of 5,621,000 tons.
Total sales tons to external customers increased 12% year over year to 7,605,000 tons. The external average sales price per ton rose 10% to $1,367. Overall operating rates at the company’s steel mills were 91%, up from 85% in the second quarter of 2025 and 86% in the first quarter of 2026.
Segment Highlights
In the reported quarter, the Steel Mills segment posted earnings of $1.56 billion, up 84.6% from $843 million in the year-ago quarter. The improvement reflected higher average selling prices and volumes, along with a $130 million reduction in cost of products sold related to refunds for prior-period raw material procurement costs.
The Steel Products segment earned $353 million, down 9.9% from $392 million a year earlier. However, earnings improved sequentially on increased volumes and stable average realized pricing.
The Raw Materials segment delivered earnings of $146 million, up 156.1% from $57 million in the prior-year quarter, primarily due to higher average selling prices and shipments.
Financial Position
Cash and cash equivalents were roughly $2.48 billion at the end of the quarter, up from $1.95 billion a year earlier. Including short-term investments, Nucor had around $2.69 billion in liquidity on hand. Long-term debt and finance lease obligations due after one year were roughly $6.39 billion at quarter-end, down from $6.91 billion at the end of 2025.
During the second quarter, Nucor repurchased approximately 1.53 million shares at an average price of $228.76 per share.
Outlook
The company expects higher consolidated reported earnings in the third quarter of 2026. Steel Mills segment earnings are projected to increase on higher realized pricing across all major product categories, with volumes expected to remain stable. Steel Products segment earnings are anticipated to improve on higher volumes and realized pricing. However, Raw Materials segment earnings are expected to decline due to lower margins.
NUE’s Price Performance
Shares of Nucor have gained 76.2% over the past year compared with a 71.1% rise in its industry.
NUE’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks
NUE currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are The Chemours Company CC, Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS and Ternium S.A. TX.
Chemours is expected to report second-quarter results on Aug. 4. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CC’s second-quarter earnings is pegged at 43 cents per share. It carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here
CRS is slated to report fiscal fourth-quarter results on July 30. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $3.03 per share. CRS has a Zacks Rank #1 at present.
Ternium is scheduled to report second-quarter results on Aug. 4. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TX’s second-quarter earnings is pegged at $1.29 per share. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #1.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).