Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor Corporation (NUE) is a leading producer of structural steel, steel bars, steel joists, steel decks and cold-finished bars in the United States. With a market cap of $32.5 billion, Nucor operates through steel mills, steel products, and raw materials segments.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as "large-cap stocks," Nucor fits right into that category, with its market cap exceeding this threshold. Given Nucor is the largest steel producer in the United States, its valuation above this mark is not surprising. The company operates 26 circular-based steel mills that have an annual production capacity of over 27 million tons.
Despite its strengths, Nucor has plunged 35.3% from its all-time high of $203.00 touched on Apr. 9. NUE stock declined 6.5% over the past three months, underperforming the Dow Jones Industrials Average’s ($DOWI) 6.9% gains during the same time frame.
Over the longer term, Nucor’s performance looks even grimmer. NUE has plummeted 24.5% on a YTD basis and 19.8% over the past 52 weeks, lagging behind DOWI’s 16.5% gains in 2024 and 20.1% returns over the past year.
To confirm the bullish trend, Nucor has traded below its 50-day moving average since late April and below its 200-day moving average since late May with some fluctuations.
Nucor stock prices plunged 6.5% after the release of its disappointing Q3 results on Oct. 21. The company has faced several headwinds in the past quarters, including pricing pressure, declining demand, and oversupply in the market, which has adversely impacted its revenues and earnings. Nucor reported a concerning 15.2% year-over-year decline in net sales to $7.4 billion, which missed Wall Street’s expectations by 3.3%. Furthermore, the company has observed a decline in profitability across segments and incurred a $123 million impairment loss, resulting in a massive 78.1% year-over-year decrease in net earnings to $249.9 million.
In the competitive steel production industry, Steel Dynamics, Inc. (STLD) has outperformed NUE, demonstrating resilience with 7.5% gains on a YTD basis and an impressive 11.5% surge over the past 52-week period.
Among the 13 analysts covering the NUE stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy.” The mean price target of $175.09 represents a 33.2% premium to current price levels.
