Nucor earnings: guidance and next results
Nucor’s next results are scheduled for October 26, 2026. Watch operating cash flow and progress against management’s earnings range.
What has Nucor guided for 2026?
For the third quarter ending October 2026, management guided to $5.55–$5.65 per diluted share. It also expects full-year shipment growth, without giving a numerical range in the guide.
Nucor’s policy is to return at least 40% of annual net earnings through dividends and share repurchases. Because the amount depends on earnings, this is a policy commitment rather than a fixed cash bill.
| the period guided | low | high | the date it was given | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital expenditures | Year to Dec 2026 | 2,500 | 2,500 | Aug 12, 2026 |
| Annual amortization expense (2026) | Year to Dec 2026 | 249 | 249 | Aug 12, 2026 |
| Annual amortization expense (2027) | Year to Dec 2027 | 246 | 246 | Aug 12, 2026 |
| Annual net earnings returned to shareholders | Year to Dec 2026 | 40.0% | Jul 28, 2026 | |
| Third quarter earnings per diluted share | Quarter to Oct 2026 | 5.55 | 5.65 | Sep 17, 2026 |
| Full-year shipment growth | Year to Dec 2026 |
What this means. The 40 percent means the company plans to give shareholders at least 40 percent of its yearly earnings through dividends and share buybacks, not that shareholders receive 40 percent ownership.
Has Nucor kept its past promises?
Buybacks exceeded stock pay in each year shown, and diluted shares fell in the two most recent years shown. That supports shareholder alignment, although buybacks still create value only when Nucor buys at sensible prices.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stock pay | 133 | 132 | 130 | 137 | 135.775 |
| Share buybacks | 700 | 2,217 | 1,554 | 2,763 | 3,276.088 |
| Buybacks minus stock pay (calculated) | 567 | 2,085 | 1,424 | 2,626 | 3,140.313 |
| Diluted shares | 231.0 | 238.5 | 250.4 | 263.2 | 293.39 |
| Diluted shares (average of the year), change (calculated) | -3.1% | -4.8% | -4.9% | -10.3% | -3.3% |
What do Nucor’s last eight quarters show?
Revenue, gross margin and diluted EPS all rose from Q2 2025. The improvement came from both price and volume: average price per ton rose 10%, while external tons rose 12%. Steel-mill shipments reached a record level, while steel-products growth was led by tubular products and rebar fabrication rather than every product line.
| Jul 2026 | Apr 2026 | Dec 2025 | Oct 2025 | Jul 2025 | Apr 2025 | Dec 2024 | Sep 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 10,397 | 9,496 | 7,687 | 8,521 | 8,456 | 7,830 | 7,076 | 7,444 |
| Gross margin | 19.6% | 15.8% | 11.2% | 13.9% | 14.5% | 7.7% | 8.9% | 10.2% |
| Operating income | 1,629 | 1,108 | 501 | 888 | 908 | 295 | 387 | 391 |
| Net income | 1,156 | 743 | 378 | 607 | 603 | 156 | 287 | 250 |
| EPS, diluted | 5.04 | 3.23 | 1.64 | 2.63 | 2.60 | 0.67 | 1.22 | 1.05 |
| = Free cash flow | 829 | 225 | -3 | 532 | -222 | -495 | -146 | 478 |
What this means. The cash from operations and capital spending figures for individual quarters are calculated from year-to-date totals, so they may not be numbers the company reported directly for that quarter.
What should I watch in Nucor’s next results?
Nucor’s next results release is scheduled for October 26, 2026. Investors should look for operating cash flow, remaining capital spending and progress against the third-quarter earnings range. The longer test is whether commissioning becomes saleable steel and whether commercial production begins as planned in 2027.