Nucor Misses Where it Counts

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Nucor (NYS: NUE) reported earnings on July 18. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended June 29 (Q2), Nucor beat slightly on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue contracted. GAAP earnings per share shrank significantly.


Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
 Nucor reported revenue of $4.67 billion. The 12 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw net sales of $4.62 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 8.6% lower than the prior-year quarter's $5.10 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
 EPS came in at $0.27. The 15 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.30 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.27 for Q2 were 23% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.35 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
 For the quarter, gross margin was 6.7%, 110 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 4.1%, 150 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 1.8%, 40 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $4.81 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.46.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $18.77 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.53.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 2,077 members out of 2,161 rating the stock outperform, and 84 members rating it underperform. Among 500 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 489 give Nucor a green thumbs-up, and 11 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Nucor is outperform, with an average price target of $49.50.

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The article Nucor Misses Where it Counts originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool recommends Nucor. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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