Nucor Q3 2026 earnings: profit more than doubles, revenue tops forecasts
Nucor's profit more than doubled from a year ago and sales beat forecasts, though EPS landed just under the analyst estimate.
| Q3 2026 | Reported | Expected | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | $5.80 | $5.98 | -3.0% |
| Revenue | $11.25B | $10.94B | +2.8% |
Key takeaways
- Earnings of $5.80 per share came in just under the $5.98 Wall Street had expected, but revenue of $11.25 billion comfortably beat forecasts and topped the high end of the guidance range ($5.55-$5.65 per share) Nucor itself had given in September.
- Profit was more than double what Nucor earned in the same quarter last year ($2.63 per share), when steel prices were much weaker, though it eased from the prior quarter’s $5.04 because that quarter had included one-time boosts — a $130 million refund tied to past raw-material costs and a $61 million non-cash gain on Nucor’s stake in fusion-energy startup Helion — that didn’t repeat this time.
- Higher steel selling prices and steady shipment volumes drove the improvement; management has pointed to import tariffs limiting foreign competition and to demand from data centers, energy projects and infrastructure work as key supports for the business.
- Profitability over the trailing twelve months has strengthened alongside this rebound: net profit margin is now near 6.8% and operating margin near 10%, while per-share earnings have grown roughly 79% versus a year earlier, reflecting the swing from a weak 2025 steel market to firmer pricing this year.
- Nucor said it generated about $2.7 billion of free cash flow (cash left over after running and investing in the business) over the first nine months of 2026, and returned nearly $1.4 billion to shareholders year-to-date, including roughly 2 million shares bought back during the quarter at an average price near $247.
- The company highlighted continued expansion, including the first production run at its new sheet-steel mill in West Virginia and the startup of a second coating line at its Berkeley, South Carolina plant, additions meant to grow its flat-rolled and coated steel capacity.
- Despite results that topped Nucor’s own guidance, coverage of the report noted that investors largely shrugged off the beat, suggesting much of the improvement had already been anticipated after the September guidance update.
How the stock took it
Nucor Corporation closed at $258.11 on Oct 23, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $270.79 on Oct 27, 2026, the first session after it — +4.9% across the report.
Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.
Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 14.0% | Trailing 12 months |
| Operating margin | 10.0% | Trailing 12 months |
| Net profit margin | 6.8% | Trailing 12 months |
| Pretax margin | 9.9% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS | $10.13 | Trailing 12 months |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 12.3% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 79.2% | Trailing 12 months |
| Return on equity | 11.2% | Trailing 12 months |
Sources: company report · InvestingLive