Nucor profits rise 87 percent, beat expectations

Charlotte-based Nucor beat expectations with an 87 percent rise in second-quarter earnings compared with last year, helped by lower costs and improving steel prices.

The steel giant reported net earnings of 73 cents per share, eclipsing the 70 cents expected by analysts tracked by Zacks Investment Research.

Nucor posted total profits attributable to stockholders of $233.8 million in the second quarter, compared with $124.8 million, or 39 cents per share, a year ago.

The largest U.S. steelmaker also said it expected “strong improvement” in third-quarter earnings, primarily in its steel mills segment.

Revenue missed expectations, coming in at $4.25 billion versus analyst projections of around $4.5 billion. This represented a fall of 3 percent from the same quarter last year.

Nucor shares fell more than 3 percent Thursday to close at $52.32.

The steelmaker also announced Wednesday that it had agreed to pay $29 million for Joy Global’s steel plate mill in Longview, Texas. The mill makes carbon and alloy plate products and has an annual capacity of 180,000 tons, Nucor said.

The deal builds on the company’s strategy to increase market share in “higher value-added plate products and complements the capabilities of our two existing plate mills,” CEO John Ferriola said in a statement.

This story was originally published July 21, 2016 at 12:08 PM with the headline "Nucor profits rise 87 percent, beat expectations."