Nucor today announced guidance for fourth quarter and full year 2018 earnings. The company expects to report full year 2018 consolidated net earnings in the range of $7.25 to $7.30 per diluted share, which would be a new annual record for Nucor and an increase of approximately 22 percent as compared to the company's previous record earnings of $5.98 per diluted share reported in 2008.
Nucor said in a statement that it benefitted from strong economic conditions in the United States throughout 2018, which was positively impacted by tax and regulatory reform. Additionally, Nucor said that “broad-based tariffs imposed under Section 232 have been a tailwind contributing to our expected record 2018 earnings.”
As for the fourth quarter, Nucor expects to report consolidated net earnings in the range of $1.90 to $1.95 per diluted share as compared to $2.13 per diluted share in the third quarter of 2018 and $1.20 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2017.
"As we head into 2019, we continue to see strong demand and higher year over year average prices across most products," said John Ferriola, Chairman, CEO and President of Nucor.