Shares of steel maker Nucor (NUE) are up 74 cents, or 1.6%, after the company issued a Q1 forecast below estimates but said that operating results have improved “significantly” absent a tax charge.
Q1 EPS is projected to be a loss of 5 cents to a profit of 15 cents, which is below the average 18-cent estimate. However, that’s after the effect of a “last in, first out” (LIFO) treatment of inventory, the company said, which is expected to take 29 cents out of earnings.
On the plus side, the company said its use of its steel mills was expected to be at about 55% and 63% for beam and bar steel manufacturing, and 85% and 90% for sheet and plate forms of steel. Those are above the 44%, 53%, 63%, and 68% the company reported last quarter.
Management remarked:
First quarter results also show significant improvement in our scrap business. As expected, the most challenging markets for our products are those associated with residential and non-residential construction, which continue to show little, if any, strength. This is particularly true for our downstream businesses.
Nucor’s Q1 ends this month.
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