Nucor Beats Its Own Q3 Guidance With $5.80 EPS as Higher Steel Prices Lift Earnings 121%

Nucor (NUE) reported third-quarter net earnings of $1.32 billion, or $5.80 per diluted share, after the close on Monday. That is above the $5.55 to $5.65 range the company gave on Sept. 17, up from $2.63 a year ago and up from $5.04 in the second quarter. Net sales rose to $11.25 billion, 32% higher than a year ago, as higher steel prices and volumes lifted results.

Third-quarter results

By our calculation, EPS rose about 121% from a year ago, 15% from the second quarter and about 20% from the second quarter's adjusted $4.84, which excluded a $0.20-per-share gain on its Helion investment. Net sales rose 8% from the second quarter. Chair and CEO Leon Topalian said, "Nucor is well positioned to deliver long-term shareholder value."

Segment earnings

Steel mills rose on higher prices and volumes, even though the second quarter had included a $130 million cash refund tied to earlier raw material costs that did not repeat. Steel products earnings rose on higher volumes and realized pricing. Raw materials fell from the second quarter on lower pricing and shipments. Corporate expense rose mainly because the Helion valuation gain did not recur. By our calculation, steel mills earnings more than doubled from a year ago, up about 125%, and steel products rose about 46%.

Prices and volumes

Consolidated tons sold to outside customers were 7.53 million, up 11% from a year ago and down 1% from the second quarter. Steel mills shipped 7.23 million tons, up 12% from a year ago. Pricing did most of the work: by our calculation, the consolidated average price rose about 19% from a year ago.

Cash and capital returns

Nucor generated $4.52 billion in cash from operations over the first nine months and spent $1.86 billion on capital expenditures, leaving free cash flow of about $2.7 billion. It repurchased about 2.03 million shares in the quarter at an average of $247.04, which by our calculation is roughly $500 million, and returned about $629 million to stockholders in total, or about $1.36 billion over nine months. The quarterly dividend is $0.56 per share, payable Nov. 10 to holders of record on Sept. 30, the 214th consecutive quarterly dividend.

At quarter end Nucor held $3.47 billion in cash and $173 million in short-term investments against about $7.09 billion of debt, which by our calculation is net debt of roughly $3.45 billion. Its $2.25 billion revolving credit facility is undrawn, and its credit ratings are A-, A- and A3 with stable outlooks.

Fourth-quarter outlook

Nucor expects fourth-quarter earnings to be generally in line with or modestly higher than the third quarter. It expects steel mills and steel products earnings to be stable, with higher realized pricing offset by seasonally lower volumes and, at the mills, higher costs. Raw materials earnings should be slightly lower on lower realized DRI pricing, and intersegment profit eliminations are expected to decrease. The company did not give a numerical EPS range for the quarter.

What it means for investors

Nucor is earning more than twice what it did a year ago almost entirely because it is selling steel at higher prices, and it expects those prices to hold into the fourth quarter. The caution is that capacity utilization slipped to 89% from 91%, raw materials is weakening, and the Q4 outlook implies a plateau rather than another step up. With about $2.7 billion of free cash flow over nine months and buybacks running near $500 million a quarter, the balance sheet gives it room to keep returning capital.

Sources: Nucor Corporation, third-quarter 2026 guidance announcement (Sept. 17) and third-quarter 2026 results (Oct. 26), available at nucor.com/investors. This is informational, not a recommendation to buy or sell.