Nucor
Nucor's revenue rose 5.7% to $32.5 billion in fiscal 2025. Its net margin was 5.4%, down from 6.6% a year earlier. Free cash flow was −$188 million, against $806 million a year earlier. It paid out $1.2 billion in dividends and buybacks. The diluted share count fell 3.1%.
Net margin is net income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
What Nucor does
Nucor makes steel and steel products, and produces and buys the scrap steel and other materials it uses. Most of its plants and customers are in North America. It makes sheet, plate, structural and bar steel, mainly from scrap steel in electric arc furnaces. It says it is North America's largest recycler, and that it recycled about 20 million gross tons of scrap steel in 2025.
It reports three segments: steel mills, steel products and raw materials. Steel mills is the largest, with 62% of sales to outside customers in 2025. The company sells mainly through its own sales forces and uses trading and distribution companies to sell abroad. Demand is tied to markets such as nonresidential construction, durable goods and capital spending.
Nucor says its strategy is to grow its core steel, steel products and raw materials businesses and to expand beyond them through acquisitions and investments. It employs about 33,000 teammates.
Its biggest risks, as it describes them
- Overcapacity in global steel that raises imports into the United States.
- A cyclical industry hurt by recessions and slow growth.
- Volatile steel prices and costs of scrap steel and other raw materials.
- Volatile cost and supply of electricity and natural gas, which its mills use heavily.
- Costs of environmental rules, including limits on greenhouse gas emissions from steelmaking.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share grew 13.1% a year and net income 9.1% a year, as buybacks cut the share count by 28%.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Valuation
Two ways to value Nucor yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from Nucor's 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Nucor's cash from operations minus depreciation in fiscal 2025 (free cash flow before spending to grow: capital spending was 2.3 times depreciation, which holds its free cash flow down) of $1.8B, net cash of −$4.4B at December 31, 2025 and 231 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to Nucor: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, -7.8% a year, kept between 0% and 20%; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 12%: 11% for a cyclical or higher-risk business (Steel), plus 1 point for unsteady results (revenue fell in two of the last five years); the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $257.35
- Value on these assumptions, against the last close
- —
- Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today
- —
- Everything after year 10, valued today
- —
- Plus net cash
- —
- Share of value from after year 10
How the value changes with two assumptions
Price-to-earnings (P/E) method
Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Nucor's earnings per share of $12.54 (over the last four quarters). Each grows earnings for a year at the cash flow scenarios' rates and applies a multiple to next year's earnings: 20.5×, the middle of Nucor's own P/E today, its peers' median and its sector's median (Nucor's own P/E today) for the base scenario, 20% less and more for the cautious and optimistic ones. The price is brought back a year at 13%, 12% and 11%. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $257.35
- Value at this multiple, against the last close
- —
- Nucor's P/E at the last close
- 20.5×
| Company | Last close | Earnings per share | P/E today |
|---|---|---|---|
| RelianceRS | $421.87 | $15.35 | 27.5× |
| NucorNUE | $257.35 | $12.54 | 20.5× |
| Steel DynamicsSTLD | $237.55 | $13.55 | 17.5× |
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 2.6 | 4.9 | 7.1 | 4.1 | 2.7 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.8 | 6.9 | 7.1 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | 3.1 | 1.8 | −0.3 | 2.8 | 4.4 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.3x | 0.2x | −0.0x | 0.6x | 1.0x |
| Debt to equity | 0.4x | 0.4x | 0.3x | 0.3x | 0.3x |
| Interest coverage | 57.4x | 47.8x | 26.5x | 13.7x | 16.1x |
| Current ratio | 2.5x | 3.4x | 3.6x | 2.5x | 2.9x |
| Quick ratio | 1.3x | 2.1x | 2.4x | 1.5x | 1.6x |
Insider trades
Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, no insider bought Nucor shares on the open market, and 12 insiders sold $57.0 million.
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 14, 2026 | Leon J TopalianChair and CEO | Sold | 26,000 | $268.52 | $7.0 million | Form 4 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | Allen C BehrExecutive Vice President | Sold | 7,739 | $274.14 | $2.1 million | Form 4 |
| Aug 3, 2026 | Thomas J. BatterbeeExecutive Vice President | Sold | 4,000 | $261.02 | $1.0 million | Form 4 |
| Jul 30, 2026 | Stephen D LaxtonPresident and COO | Sold | 3,968 | $256.96 | $1.0 million | Form 4 |
| Jun 3, 2026 | John J HollatzExecutive Vice President | Sold | 10,560 | $258.46 | $2.7 million | Form 4 |
| Jun 1, 2026 | Kenneth Rex QueryExecutive Vice President | Sold | 13,529 | $251.37 | $3.4 million | Form 4 |
| May 18, 2026 | Randy J SpicerExecutive Vice President | Sold | 2,500 | $225.00 | $562,500 | Form 4 |
| May 15, 2026 | Leon J TopalianChair and CEO | Sold | 52,000 | $227.69 | $11.8 million | Form 4 |
| May 5, 2026 | Bradley FordExecutive Vice President | Sold | 2,240 | $232.13 | $519,962 | Form 4 |
| May 4, 2026 | Allen C BehrExecutive Vice President | Sold | 10,096 | $226.08 | $2.3 million | Form 4 |
| May 4, 2026 | Michael D KellerVice Pres. and Corp. Contro | Sold | 4,554 | $225.86 | $1.0 million | Form 4 |
| May 1, 2026 | Daniel R. NeedhamExecutive Vice President | Sold | 12,888 | $226.00 | $2.9 million | Form 4 |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| Current ratio rose | Pass | Fail | Pass |
| Share count didn't rise | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Gross margin rose | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Fail | Fail | Pass |
| F-score | 6 of 9 | 5 of 9 | 6 of 9 |
| Accruals ratio | −7.6% | −5.6% | −4.3% |
Compare
Put Nucor side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nucor | FY25 | 5.7% | — | −0.6% | 8.6% | 1.0x | 6 | |
| Cleveland-Cliffs | FY25 | −3.0% | −8.5% | −5.5% | −8.8% | — | 2 | Compare |
| Steel Dynamics | FY25 | 3.6% | 8.1% | 2.8% | 10.0% | 1.7x | 6 | Compare |
| ArcelorMittal | FY25 | −1.7% | 5.9% | 0.8% | 5.4% | 1.2x | 7 | Compare |
| Reliance | FY25 | 3.3% | 7.1% | 3.5% | 9.4% | 0.9x | 6 | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 16.2 | 20.3 | 25.1 | 22.6 | 20.1 | 36.5 | 41.5 | 34.7 | 30.7 | 32.5 |
| Revenue growth | −1.4% | 24.9% | 23.8% | −9.9% | −10.8% | 81.2% | 13.8% | −16.4% | −11.5% | 5.7% |
| Gross profit | 2.0 | 2.6 | 4.3 | 2.7 | 2.2 | 11.0 | 12.5 | 7.8 | 4.1 | 3.9 |
| Research and development | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating income | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Net income | 0.8 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 6.8 | 7.6 | 4.5 | 2.0 | 1.7 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 2.48 | 4.10 | 7.42 | 4.14 | 2.36 | 23.16 | 28.79 | 18.00 | 8.46 | 7.52 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 320 | 321 | 317 | 306 | 303 | 293 | 263 | 250 | 238 | 231 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 1.8 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 6.2 | 10.1 | 7.1 | 4.0 | 3.2 |
| Capital expenditure | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 3.2 | 3.4 |
| Free cash flow | 1.1 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 4.6 | 8.1 | 4.9 | 0.8 | −0.2 |
| Dividends paid | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Share buybacks | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 0.7 |
| Acquisitions | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 3.6 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.0 |
| Stock-based compensation | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 2.2 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 4.9 | 7.1 | 4.1 | 2.7 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 4.4 | 3.8 | — | 4.4 | 5.3 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.8 | 6.9 | 7.1 |
| Total assets | 15.2 | 15.8 | 17.9 | 18.3 | 20.1 | 25.8 | 32.5 | 35.3 | 33.9 | 35.1 |
| Total liabilities | 7.0 | 6.8 | 7.7 | 7.6 | 8.9 | 11.2 | 12.9 | 13.2 | 12.5 | 13.0 |
| Shareholders' equity | 7.9 | 8.7 | 9.8 | 10.4 | 10.8 | 14.0 | 18.4 | 20.9 | 20.3 | 20.9 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 12.5% | 12.7% | 17.1% | 11.9% | 11.1% | 30.2% | 30.1% | 22.5% | 13.3% | 11.9% |
| Operating margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Net margin | 4.9% | 6.5% | 9.4% | 5.6% | 3.6% | 18.7% | 18.3% | 13.0% | 6.6% | 5.4% |
| Free cash flow margin | 7.1% | 3.0% | 5.6% | 5.9% | 5.7% | 12.6% | 19.6% | 14.1% | 2.6% | −0.6% |
| Return on capital | 9.9% | 13.7% | — | — | 7.5% | 46.5% | 42.3% | 23.6% | 10.9% | 8.6% |
| Return on equity | 10.4% | 15.9% | 25.5% | 12.6% | 6.8% | 55.0% | 46.9% | 23.0% | 9.8% | 8.5% |
| Return on assets | 5.4% | 8.5% | 14.0% | 7.0% | 3.8% | 29.7% | 26.1% | 13.3% | 5.8% | 5.0% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 1.0x | 1.1x | — | 0.9x | 1.3x | 0.3x | 0.2x | −0.0x | 0.6x | 1.0x |