Yahoo Finance Nucor (NUE) to Construct $100 Million Melt Shop in Western U.S
Nucor Corporation NUE recently announced that its board has approved the construction of a new melt shop at one of its existing bar mills in the Western United States. The new $100-million melt shop is expected to have a manufacturing capacity to manufacture 600,000 tons annually and create roughly 140 new full-time jobs, with start-up expected in 2024.
Nucor has 15 bar mills tactically sited across the United States, which produce a wide array of steel products, including concrete reinforcing bars, hot-rolled bars, rounds, light shapes, structural angles, channels, wire rod as well as highway products in carbon and alloy steels.
Four of the bar mills are focused on producing SBQ and wire rod products. The steel manufactured by Nucor bar mills serves numerous end markets, including the agricultural, automotive, construction, energy, furniture, machinery, metal building, railroad, recreational equipment, shipbuilding, heavy truck and trailer market segments. Nucor's bar steel capacity is estimated to be roughly 9.5 million tons annually.
The new melt shop will help Nucor maintain its market leading position in steel bar production and facilitate it to meet anticipated demand growth for bar products from customers in the Western United States.
Shares of Nucor have gained 117.2% in the past year compared with a 100.1% surge of the industry.
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Nucor recently announced guidance for third-quarter 2021. It expects the quarter’s earnings between $7.30 and $7.40 per share. The company is gearing up to report the highest quarterly earnings ever in its history, surpassing the prior record of earnings per share (EPS) of $5.04 in second-quarter 2021.
This upbeat outlook is backed by strong demand across most of Nucor’s end-markets and higher average selling prices, which is driving strong profitability in all of the three segments. The company expects the steel products segment to generate significantly higher earnings in the third quarter, owing to margin expansion arising from higher average selling prices.
Nucor Corporation Price and Consensus
Nucor Corporation price-consensus-chart | Nucor Corporation Quote
Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks
Nucor currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Some other top-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. RS, The Chemours Company CC and Olin Corporation OLN.
Reliance Steel has a projected earnings growth rate of around 147.7% for the current year. The company’s shares have soared 41% in a year. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Chemours has an expected earnings growth rate of around 86.4% for the current year. The company’s shares have gained 36.6% in the past year. It currently flaunts a Zacks Rank #1.
Olin has an expected earnings growth rate of around 639.3% for the current fiscal. The company’s shares have surged 302.6% in the past year. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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