Nucor Steel Mills Segment Earnings to Drop in Q4 2019

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Nucor Corporation reduce its earnings guidance for the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2019.

In accordance with company press release published yesterday, the company foresees the Q4 2019 earnings to be in the range of $0.25 to $0.30 per diluted share. This is significantly lower when compared with the third quarter 2019 earnings of $0.90 per diluted share. Also, in comparison with Q4 2018 earnings of $2.07 per diluted share, it is a big miss.

The downward trend in steel prices towards the end of third quarter is likely to have an impact on Q4 results. Subsequently, the company foresees subdued performance from its steel mills segment during the quarter. However, the recent hike in steel mill products prices along with higher seasonal demand should result in an improved performance by the sector in 2020. It must be noted that Nucor had implemented price hikes at its sheet, plate, structural and bar mills during this quarter.

The normal year-end seasonality is likely to have a bearing on steel products segment profitability. However, Nucor expects the Q4 ’19 profitability to be the best in the segment’s history. The profitability is likely to surge higher significantly over the previous year.

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The losses from raw materials segment is likely to increase further, mainly due to planned outage at Louisiana DRI plant. The company expects further margin compression across its raw materials business segment.