NUE
Nucor Corporation
NUE's fundamentals are strong, but it looks expensive: trading at 17x earnings, above its usual 11x. Analysts expect strong earnings growth, though they disagree widely on how much.
NUE Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong |
NUE's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
NUE PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 5.8x | $90.41 | -65% |
| Fair | 11x | $173 | -34% |
| Forward | 11x | $261 | — |
| Current | 17x | $261 | — |
| Expensive | 24x | $379 | +45% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
NUE's PE is in its fair range at 17x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 11x next year's earnings.
NUE Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for NUE, with profitability improving. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
NUE Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $24.14 | +54% |
| Q3 2026 | $15.69 | +120% |
| Q2 2026 | $12.52 | +126% |
| Q1 2026 | $10.08 | +79% |
| Q4 2025 | $7.52 | -11% |
| Q3 2025 | $7.12 | -31% |
| Q2 2025 | $5.54 | -60% |
| Q1 2025 | $5.62 | -67% |
| Q4 2024 | $8.41 | -53% |
NUE's earnings per share have fallen from their peak: $15.69 over the past year, against $32.59 in mid-2022.
NUE Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $11.2B | +32% |
| Q2 2026 | $10.4B | +23% |
| Q1 2026 | $9.5B | +21% |
| Q4 2025 | $7.7B | +8.6% |
| Q3 2025 | $8.5B | +14% |
| Q2 2025 | $8.5B | +4.7% |
| Q1 2025 | $7.8B | -3.8% |
| Q4 2024 | $7.1B | -8.2% |
NUE's revenue has grown year over year for six quarters in a row: $11.2B last quarter, up 32% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 17% | +6.2 points |
| Q2 2026 | 16% | +5 points |
| Q1 2026 | 12% | +7.9 points |
| Q4 2025 | 6.5% | +1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 10% | +5.1 points |
| Q2 2025 | 11% | -0.5 points |
| Q1 2025 | 3.6% | -11 points |
| Q4 2024 | 5.5% | -8.5 points |
NUE's operating margin was 17% last quarter, up 6.2 points from the same quarter a year ago.
NUE Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.6B | +202% |
| Q2 2026 | $829M | +$1.1B |
| Q1 2026 | $225M | +$720M |
| Q4 2025 | -$3M | +$142.8M |
| Q3 2025 | $532M | +11% |
| Q2 2025 | -$222M | -132% |
| Q1 2025 | -$495M | -$284.3M |
| Q4 2024 | -$145.8M | -118% |
NUE's free cash flow has turned positive again: $2.7B over the past year, against −$331M the year before.
NUE Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.8% | -1.8M shares |
| 1 year | -1.5% | -3.5M shares |
| 3 years | -8.9% | -22.2M shares |
| 5 years | -22% | -64.5M shares |
| Available history | -26% | -78.8M shares |
NUE has 227M diluted shares, down 1.5% from a year ago, with $1.1B in buybacks over the past year.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $501M |
| Q2 2026 | $350M |
| Q1 2026 | $125M |
| Q4 2025 | $100M |
| Q3 2025 | $100M |
| Q2 2025 | $200M |
| Q1 2025 | $300M |
| Q4 2024 | $315.4M |
NUE spent $1.1B buying back its own shares over the past year, up 18% from the year before.
NUE Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 1.0x | Healthy |
| Q4 2025 | 1.2x | Healthy |
| Q3 2025 | 1.2x | Healthy |
| Q2 2025 | 1.5x | Healthy |
| Q1 2025 | 1.4x | Healthy |
| Q4 2024 | 0.8x | Very low |
NUE's net debt is less than a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 1.2 years a year ago.
NUE Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 56.6 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 56.2 | Neutral |
NUE's weekly RSI is 57 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 56 (neutral).
NUE PE vs Basic Materials Sector
| Metric | NUE | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 17x | 19x | 11% below |
| PE % | 64 | 40 | 24 pts above |
NUE is trading at 17x earnings, a 11% discount to the Basic Materials sector's median of 19x.
NUE Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $254.0 | 2.7% above |
| 20 week MA | $251.3 | 3.8% above |
| 50 week MA | $217.3 | 20% above |
| 100 week MA | $174.1 | 50% above |
| 200 week MA | $167.6 | 56% above |
NUE is in an uptrend: it's above all five of its weekly moving averages, and 56% above its 200-week average.
NUE Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $56.7 | $52.4 | -7.5% |
| 2021 | $52.4 | $114.3 | +118% |
| 2022 | $114.3 | $136.1 | +19% |
| 2023 | $136.1 | $174.0 | +28% |
| 2024 | $174.0 | $117.3 | -33% |
| 2025 | $117.3 | $166.4 | +42% |
| 2026 YTD | $166.4 | $260.8 | +57% |
NUE has finished higher in four of the last six years. It's up 57% so far in 2026.