Nucor Corporation today announced guidance for its third quarter ending October 3, 2020. Nucor expects third quarter earnings to be in the range of $0.50 to $0.55 per diluted share. Second quarter of 2020 earnings were $0.36 per diluted share and third quarter of 2019 earnings were $0.90 per diluted share.
In a press release, the company said its downstream products segment “is having another strong quarter due to the continued resiliency of nonresidential construction markets, and we expect third quarter of 2020 earnings to increase from the second quarter of 2020 for this segment.”
The results of the steel mills segment in the third quarter of 2020 is expected to be similar to the second quarter of 2020; the company said its bar and structural mills are benefitting from nonresidential construction markets while market conditions for sheet and plate mills remain challenged. As for the raw materials segment, Nucor said it expects third-quarter results to decrease compared to the second quarter due to lower pricing for DRI.
“We have seen an uptick in demand and pricing for raw materials and sheet steel late in the third quarter,” the company said in a statement. “Additionally, utilization rates for our sheet mills have improved throughout the third quarter. We are cautiously optimistic about the impact these developments will have on the final quarter of the year.”