Nucor Corp. (NUE): 2Q26 Earnings First Take; Beat Fueled by Strength in Mills and Raw Materials

Research evidence excerpt

Nucor Corp. (NUE): 2Q26 Earnings First Take; Beat Fueled by Strength in Mills and Raw Materials

Equity Research

27 July 2026 | 6:06PM EDT

Nucor Corp. (NUE): 2Q26 Earnings First Take; Beat Fueled by Strength in

Mills and Raw Materials

Key stock takeaways. We expect the market to have a positive reaction to NUE’s Nick Cash

+1(212)357-6372 | nick.cash@gs.com

2Q26 earnings on the back of better than expected results as NUE topped both GSe Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

and Factset consensus estimates across the board. External volumes shipped within

the mills segment of 5,659mn tons were up ~+1% qoq on 3 less shipping days with

margin expansion fueled by 91% utilization rates vs. 86% in the prior period, scrap

spread expansion and a one time raw materials refund NUE disclosed during the

2Q26 guidance update. As for 3Q26 guidance, NUE expects consolidated earnings to

increase q/q on the back of stable volumes and higher prices within the mills

segment, both higher prices and higher volumes within the steel product segment,

an earnings headwind in the raw materials segment on the back of lower pricing and

higher costs and higher conversion costs in mills as NUE does not expect any further

benefit from raw materials refunds.

2Q26 Results. Revenue of $10.4bn came in +3.7%/+2.5% above GSe/consensus, adj.

EBITDA of $2.02bn came in +6.2%/+5.4% above GSe/consensus and adj. EPS of

$4.84 came in +7%/+8% above GSe/consensus while EBITDA margins of 19.4% beat

GSe/consensus expectations of 19.0%/18.9% on the back of higher margins across

both mills and raw materials. Buybacks accelerated in 2Q26 to ~$350mn, up from

~$120mn in the prior quarter and now sit at ~38.6% of net earnings returned to

shareholders YTD vs. the minimum 40% annual target.

Price target and key risks.