Yahoo Finance Earnings Miss: Nucor Corporation Missed EPS By 5.4% And Analysts Are Revising Their Forecasts
Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) shareholders are probably feeling a little disappointed, since its shares fell 9.4% to US$175 in the week after its latest quarterly results. It looks like the results were a bit of a negative overall. While revenues of US$8.1b were in line with analyst predictions, statutory earnings were less than expected, missing estimates by 5.4% to hit US$3.46 per share. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on Nucor after the latest results.
See our latest analysis for Nucor
After the latest results, the consensus from Nucor's 13 analysts is for revenues of US$31.6b in 2024, which would reflect a noticeable 7.5% decline in revenue compared to the last year of performance. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to plunge 26% to US$13.03 in the same period. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of US$32.5b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$13.81 in 2024. It's pretty clear that pessimism has reared its head after the latest results, leading to a weaker revenue outlook and a small dip in earnings per share estimates.
Despite the cuts to forecast earnings, there was no real change to the US$203 price target, showing that the analysts don't think the changes have a meaningful impact on its intrinsic value. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. The most optimistic Nucor analyst has a price target of US$240 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$178. As you can see, analysts are not all in agreement on the stock's future, but the range of estimates is still reasonably narrow, which could suggest that the outcome is not totally unpredictable.
Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. We would highlight that revenue is expected to reverse, with a forecast 9.9% annualised decline to the end of 2024. That is a notable change from historical growth of 13% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 4.8% annually for the foreseeable future. So although its revenues are forecast to shrink, this cloud does not come with a silver lining - Nucor is expected to lag the wider industry.
The Bottom Line
The most important thing to take away is that the analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. On the negative side, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.
Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. We have estimates - from multiple Nucor analysts - going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.
You should always think about risks though. Case in point, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Nucor you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit unpleasant.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
