Nucor Expects Record Quarterly Earnings in the First Quarter of 2021

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Mar 16, 2021, 09:00 ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) today announced guidance for its first quarter ending April 3, 2021. Nucor expects first quarter earnings to be in the range of $3.00 to $3.10 per diluted share. First quarter of 2021 earnings are expected to be the highest quarterly earnings in Nucor history, surpassing the previous record set in the third quarter of 2008.

March is expected to be the strongest month of the quarter. Margins have expanded since the beginning of the year, a trend we expect to continue into the second quarter. We believe earnings in the second quarter of 2021 will likely set a new record for quarterly earnings.

All three Nucor segments are generating strong results. The steel mills and raw materials segments' first quarter of 2021 results are expected to be significantly higher than the previous quarter due to strong steel demand and higher prices. All the product groups in the steel mills segment are forecasting higher first quarter results compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, with the largest increases coming from our sheet and plate mills. The Company is experiencing strong demand across most of its end markets, including nonresidential construction, automotive, renewable energy, heavy equipment and agriculture.

During the first quarter, Nucor has repurchased 5.4 million shares at an average price of $56.11 per share. Nucor has returned more than $420 million to stockholders in the form of share repurchases and dividend payments year-to-date.

Nucor expects that strong cash flow from operations will enable us to end the quarter with more than $4.5 billion in financial liquidity, including the Company's $1.5 billion undrawn revolving credit facility.

Nucor's first quarter of 2021 guidance range compares to fourth quarter of 2020 earnings of $1.30 per diluted share and first quarter of 2020 earnings of $0.07 per diluted share. Included in the fourth quarter of 2020 earnings were the following: non-cash impairment charges of $130.2 million, or $0.33 per diluted share; net benefits of $48.2 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, and $39.7 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, related to certain tax items; and a net benefit of $17.9 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, resulting from the transaction that concluded Nucor's investment in Duferdofin Nucor S.r.l. Included in the first quarter of 2020 results were losses on assets of $287.8 million, or $0.92 per diluted share, related to our previously held equity method investment in Duferdofin Nucor S.r.l.

About Nucor
Nucor and its affiliates are manufacturers of steel and steel products, with operating facilities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Products produced include: carbon and alloy steel -- in bars, beams, sheet and plate; hollow structural section tubing; electrical conduit; steel piling; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; precision castings; steel fasteners; metal building systems; steel grating; and wire and wire mesh. Nucor, through The David J. Joseph Company, also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and hot briquetted iron / direct reduced iron; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap. Nucor is North America's largest recycler.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "project," "may," "will," "should," "could" and similar expressions are intended to identify those forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company's best judgment based on current information, and although we base these statements on circumstances that we believe to be reasonable when made, there can be no assurance that future events will not affect the accuracy of such forward-looking information. As such, the forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may vary materially from the projected results and expectations discussed in this news release. Factors that might cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (1) competitive pressure on sales and pricing, including pressure from imports and substitute materials; (2) U.S. and foreign trade policies affecting steel imports or exports; (3) the sensitivity of the results of our operations to prevailing steel prices and changes in the supply and cost of raw materials, including pig iron, iron ore and scrap steel; (4) market demand for steel products, which, in the case of many of our products, is driven by the level of nonresidential construction activity in the United States, as well as prevailing domestic prices for oil and gas; (5) energy costs and availability; and (6) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These and other factors are discussed in Nucor's regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of Nucor's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release speak only as of this date, and Nucor does not assume any obligation to update them, except as may be required by applicable law.

SOURCE Nucor Corporation