Nucor Corporation NUE recently issued guidance for second-quarter 2020.
The steel giant expects earnings per share (EPS) between 10 cents and 15 cents for the second quarter of 2020. This reflects a sequential rise from EPS of 7 cents in the first quarter and a fall from $1.26 recorded in the year-ago quarter.
Per Nucor, demand in non-residential construction market has been resilient although the overall market conditions remain challenging by the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The company’s downstream steel products unit witnessed strong performance during the second quarter.
In the steel mills unit, the pandemic affected its sheet and plate mills business due to weak oil and gas market activity as well as customer production disruptions. Nevertheless, Nucor is seeing a strong rebound in automotive-related steel demand.
In the raw materials unit, the company faced challenges from lower pricing for raw materials and the impact of an outage at its DRI facility in Trinidad.
Nucor noted that it is well positioned to navigate through any future challenges stemming from the current challenging market conditions on the back of its advantaged cost position, flexible production capability and financial strength.
Nucor’s shares have lost 21.3% in the past year compared with the industry’s 28.4% decline.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Nucor currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are Barrick Gold Corporation GOLD, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited AEM and AngloGold Ashanti Limited AU, all carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
Barrick has an expected earnings growth rate of 54.9% for 2020. The company’s shares have surged 56.8% in the past year.
Agnico Eagle has an expected earnings growth rate of 53.6% for 2020. Its shares have returned 17.7% in the past year.
AngloGold has an expected earnings growth rate of 109.9% for 2020. The company’s shares have surged 55.3% in the past year.
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