Market Segment

Nucor expects lower steel prices to drive Q3 earnings decline

Written by Laura Miller

September 17, 2024

Nucor blamed lower steel prices for its expectations of weaker third-quarter results.

In guidance released Tuesday, Nucor said it anticipates reporting Q3 earnings between $0.87 and $0.97 per diluted share. That’s down notably from $2.68/diluted share in the previous quarter and from $4.57/diluted share in Q3’23.

In its Q2 earnings report in July, Nucor warned that Q3 profits would decline again due to weaker results from its steel mills. The Charlotte, N.C.-based manufacturer now expects lower earnings across all its segments – steel mills, steel products, and raw materials.

It noted that the primary driver of the sequentially lower results “is the decreased earnings of the steel mills segment, due primarily to lower average selling prices.”

Additionally, it anticipates reporting lower quarterly volumes in the steel products segment.

Nucor mentioned an expected Q3 impairment charge of ~$123 million, or $0.43 per diluted share, related to “certain non-current assets in the raw materials and steel products segments.”

The steelmaker will release Q3 results after the markets close on Monday, Oct. 21, and an earnings conference call on Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 10 a.m. ET.

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. Since 2007, she has held various editorial and marketing positions with steel industry publications, associations, and mills. In 2021, after a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel trade journalism, joining SMU in 2022. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.

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