Never trust the positive comments out of a CEOs mouth right after he warns. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what NUE did this morning. Maybe they will do better than 2015. Given that 2015 was nothing short of disaster for the industry, I’d say the bar is quite low.
Co issues downside guidance for Q1 (Mar), sees EPS (excluding $0.03 LIFO charge) of $0.23-0.28, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.32 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
Nucor expects first quarter results to be in the range of $0.20 to $0.25 per diluted share. Projected first quarter of 2016 results include an estimated LIFO expense of $15.0 million ($0.03 per diluted share), compared to a credit of $217.8 million ($0.41 per diluted share) in the fourth quarter of 2015 and a credit of $16.5 million ($0.03 per diluted share) in the first quarter of 2015.
“Although conditions in world markets remain uncertain, we now believe that full year 2016 profitability will be slightly improved compared to full year 2015 results, excluding the impairment charges taken in the prior year. This improved performance is driven by expected increases in the performance of the steel mills and steel products segments.”
Nucor’s stock has been on a tear throughout 2016.
