Nucor Corporation · NUE · FY2025 Q4 · Calendar Q1 2026

Nucor outlines 2026 growth projects as quarterly results miss consensus

Nucor's earnings outlook is supported by backlog, domestic demand tied to infrastructure and energy, and a lower capital-spending plan, but the thesis depends on project execution, utilization without price pressure and continued trade protection.

Reported After market closeNYSEBasic Materials $53.23B market cap
100quality score

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS $1.73 Consensus $1.91
EPS surprise -9.4% Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue $7.69B Consensus $7.91B
Revenue surprise -2.8% Reported versus consensus

Market reaction

event-close to next-session close
Stock move -2.3% Event window
SPY move +0.4% Same window
Abnormal move -2.7% Stock minus SPY
Volume 1.8× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift +1.1% Up to 20 sessions
NUESPY benchmark

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Transcript intelligence

What changed

The current analysis adds a roughly 40% year-over-year increase in backlog, a projected 5% shipment increase for 2026 and a reduction in capital spending to about $2.5 billion. Management also identified the West Virginia sheet mill, galvanizing lines and utility-pole facilities as progressing toward 2026 operation and EBITDA contribution.

Guidance delta

Maintained; management expects 2026 shipments to increase 5% and plans 2026 capital spending of about $2.5 billion.

Key takeaways

  • Management highlighted a roughly 40% year-over-year increase in backlog and expects 2026 steel shipments to rise 5%.
  • The West Virginia sheet mill, galvanizing lines and utility-pole facilities remain key execution priorities for 2026.
  • Management expects capital spending to decline to about $2.5 billion in 2026, with maintenance spending around $800 million annually thereafter.
  • Trade protection, infrastructure, energy, data-center and utility-tower demand were identified as important supports, while automotive and residential weakness remain risks.

Management priorities

  • Complete and ramp the West Virginia sheet mill by year-end 2026.
  • Commission the Berkeley County galvanizing line and Indiana utility-pole plant.
  • Advance Utah greenfield projects and additional utility-tower facilities.
  • Pursue adjacent steel-centric M&A in data-center support and building systems.

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Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
NUE REVENUE earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 9 reported fiscal quarters and 4 future estimate-only quarters. Q4 '23 estimate $8B Q4 '23 actual $8B, beat Q1 '24 estimate $8B Q1 '24 actual $8B, miss Q2 '24 estimate $8B Q2 '24 actual $8B, beat Q3 '24 estimate $7B Q3 '24 actual $7B, beat Q2 '25 estimate $9B Q2 '25 actual $8B, miss Q3 '25 estimate $8B Q3 '25 actual $9B, beat Q4 '25 estimate $8B Q4 '25 actual $8B, miss Q1 '26 estimate $9B Q1 '26 actual $9B, beat Q2 '26 estimate $10B Q2 '26 actual $10B, beat Q3 '26 estimate $11B Q4 '26 estimate $10B Q1 '27 estimate $10B Q2 '27 estimate $10B
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Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusHold32 ratings
Bullish1959.4%
Neutral1031.2%
Bearish39.4%

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$233.75Previous close
$110Low
$201.38Average
$297High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted previous close from FN2's market snapshot as of Oct 1, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
Wells Fargo Overweight OverweightMaintainSep 18, 2026
Freedom Broker Hold BuyDowngradeSep 18, 2026
JP Morgan Overweight OverweightMaintainSep 9, 2026
BMO Capital Outperform OutperformMaintainJul 29, 2026
Barclays Overweight OverweightMaintainJul 29, 2026
Show 27 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted previous close $233.75. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
Wells FargoTimna Tanners$280$265.14 +19.8%Sep 18, 2026
BMO CapitalAnalyst unavailable$295$263.18 +26.2%Jul 29, 2026
Wells FargoAnalyst unavailable$297$265.62 +27.1%Jul 29, 2026
BarclaysRichard Garchitorena$295$265.62 +26.2%Jul 29, 2026
Morgan StanleyCarlos De Alba$270$265.62 +15.5%Jul 29, 2026
See 40 more

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Company context

Snapshot as of publication

Nucor Corporation is a prominent producer and distributor of steel and diverse steel-related products. Within its Steel Mills division, the company manufactures a comprehensive range of steel goods. These include various sheet steel types like hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized, alongside plate steel. It also produces structural components such as wide-flange beams, beam blanks, H-piling, and sheet piling. Furthermore, this segment supplies bar steel products, encompassing blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing bars, merchant bars, and specialized bar quality items. Beyond manufacturing, Nucor's steel mills are involved in steel trading and the distribution of rebar. Its clientele primarily consists of steel service centers, fabricators, and manufacturers across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The Steel Products segment provides an array of manufactured steel goods, such as hollow structural section tubing, electrical conduits, steel racking, joists and girders, steel decks, and fabricated concrete reinforcing steel.…

Historical context

All NUE earnings

Basic Materials peers this season

Latest reports in the same sector
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HMY Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited FY2026 Q4 · Calendar Q3 2026 0.0% -6.2% Harmony Gold posts record FY2026 while Eva Copper risks remain

Latest beats and misses

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Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-26T00:37:12.209961+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-10-01T08:16:10.291837+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-10-01T08:16:10.288794+00:00

Methodology

Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.

Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.

Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.

By FN2 Research · Updated · As of 2026-10-01. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.