At a glance
Nucor Corp is worth $62.99B, about 37 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 5.7% to $32.49B in fiscal 2025, with 5.4% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 10.0% a year. It pays a 0.81% dividend yield, raised every year for at least 9 years, and returned $13.08B to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +87.2% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +22.7% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 41.5% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 40.8% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 6 months and 4 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
Nucor makes steel and steel products, and most of its plants and customers are in North America. It describes itself as North America's largest recycler: its main raw material is scrap steel, melted in electric arc furnaces, which use electricity to generate heat. It recycled about 20 million gross tons of scrap in 2025.
Steel mills, the biggest segment, brought in $20.0 billion, or 61.6% of Nucor's $32.5 billion in revenue in 2025. These mills make sheet, bar, beams and plate steel. They supply mainly steel service centers (distributors that cut and resell steel), fabricators and manufacturers in the US, Canada and Mexico. Sheet steel was 28.2% of total revenue. About 85% of sheet sales were under contracts of six to 12 months, with prices reset monthly or quarterly against market indexes or raw material costs.
The steel products segment, about $10.3 billion or 31.8%, turns steel into finished goods: joists and decking for roofs and floors, concrete reinforcing bar, tubing, solar-array torque tubes, metal buildings, insulated panels, warehouse and data-center racking, overhead doors and utility towers. These mainly serve nonresidential construction, such as warehouses, factories and schools, plus infrastructure. Raw materials, mostly supplying Nucor's own mills, made up the remaining 6.7%. Nucor's sales track construction and business spending, so results rise and fall with the economy.
Price history
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NUE +87.2% over the year to Nov 2, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By product or service
| Sheet | $9.16B | 28.2% |
| Bar | $5.72B | 17.6% |
| Other Steel Products | $3.52B | 10.8% |
| Structural | $2.63B | 8.1% |
| Plate | $2.49B | 7.7% |
| Joist And Deck | $2.22B | 6.8% |
| Raw Materials | $2.16B | 6.7% |
| Rebar Fabrication | $1.91B | 5.9% |
| Tubular Products | $1.43B | 4.4% |
| Building Systems | $1.25B | 3.8% |
By business segment
| Steel Mills | $20.00B | 61.6% |
| Steel Products | $10.33B | 31.8% |
| Raw Materials | $2.16B | 6.7% |
Latest results
- In Q2 FY2026 (ended Jul 4, 2026), revenue was $10.40B, up 23% from a year earlier, and net income was $1.16B (+91.7%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $32.49B (+5.7% year over year; +10.0% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 5.4% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +10.0% good |
|---|---|
| Free cash flow margin | -0.6% weak |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 8.3% watch |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 5% watch |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $-4.41B weak |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $20.14B | $721.5M | $1.15B |
| FY2021 | $36.48B | $6.83B | $4.61B |
| FY2022 | $41.51B | $7.61B | $8.12B |
| FY2023 | $34.71B | $4.53B | $4.90B |
| FY2024 | $30.73B | $2.03B | $806.0M |
| FY2025 | $32.49B | $1.74B | $-188.0M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $62.99B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 36.9 |
| Dividend yield | 0.81% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Nucor’s market value went from $18.96B at the end of 2016 to $62.99B on Nov 2, 2026, about 3.3 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is up 69%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2, 2026 | $62.99B | +68.7% |
| 2025 | $37.33B | +36.2% |
| 2024 | $27.41B | -35.9% |
| 2023 | $42.79B | +26.5% |
| 2022 | $33.82B | +3.7% |
| 2021 | $32.62B | +103.1% |
| 2020 | $16.06B | -5.9% |
| 2019 | $17.06B | +4.9% |
| 2018 | $16.26B | -19.5% |
| 2017 | $20.21B | +6.6% |
| 2016 | $18.96B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NUE price data to Nov 2, 2026 | +71.6% | +87.2% | +24.2% | +22.7% | +21.7% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +71.6% |
| 2025 | +42.0% |
| 2024 | -32.0% |
| 2023 | +33.7% |
| 2022 | +17.4% |
| 2021 | +118.5% |
| 2020 | -1.9% |
| 2019 | +11.9% |
| 2018 | -16.4% |
| 2017 | +9.6% |
| 2016 | +52.2% |
| 2015 | -14.9% |
| 2014 | -5.4% |
| 2013 | +27.5% |
| 2012 | +13.2% |
| 2011 | -6.3% |
| 2010 | -2.8% |
| 2009 | +4.2% |
| 2008 | -19.3% |
| 2007 | +12.8% |
| 2006 | +69.9% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 43.9% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 68.3%, back to its old high 96.1 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 40.4% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 41.5%, back to its old high 5.8 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Gained 6.9% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 40.8%, back to its old high 4.2 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-11-03 to 2026-11-03 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 14 sales ($22.0M).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 14, 2026 | Leon J Topalian Chair and CEO | sell | $7.0M |
| Jun 1, 2026 | Kenneth Rex Query Executive Vice President | sell | $2.1M |
| Oct 29, 2026 | Allen C Behr Executive Vice President | sell | $1.5M |
| Jun 3, 2026 | John J Hollatz Executive Vice President | sell | $1.4M |
| Oct 29, 2026 | Noah C Hanners Executive Vice President | sell | $1.4M |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 7.4% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 7.34% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| STATE STREET CORPORATION | 5.3% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 5.17% | Mar 31, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in NUE
| SLX VanEck Steel ETF | 5.35% |
| FXZ First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund | 4.91% |
| XME SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF | 4.34% |
| XLB Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund | 3.76% |
| RSPM Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Materials ETF | 3.54% |
| CCSO Carbon Collective Climate Solutions U.S. Equity ETF | 3.39% |
| ZIG Acquirers Fund | 3.32% |
| IYM iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF | 3.2% |
What could go wrong
- Cheap imports if tariff protection weakens. The OECD put global excess steel capacity at about 704 million net tons in 2025, eight times US output. If tariffs that hold imports back are relaxed, cheaper foreign steel could drag prices down.
- Demand rises and falls with the economy. Nucor's business is tied to construction, energy, appliances and autos. Recessions and construction slowdowns hit demand, and profits swing widely: net income fell from $7.6 billion in 2022 to $1.7 billion in 2025.
- Scrap costs and steel prices can swing. Scrap steel is Nucor's main raw material, and both its cost and steel selling prices are volatile. When scrap costs rise faster than steel prices, profits shrink.
- Volatile electricity and natural gas costs. Electric arc furnaces use huge amounts of power, and Nucor also relies on natural gas. Price spikes or supply shortages for either can raise costs or disrupt production.
- Heavy spending on new mills strains cash. Nucor must keep investing heavily, for example in a new three-million-ton sheet mill in West Virginia. Free cash flow, the cash left after that spending, was negative $188 million in 2025.
- Climate rules and low-carbon customer demands. Steelmaking emits carbon dioxide. Stricter greenhouse-gas rules could raise costs, and customers seeking lower-emission materials could put a carbon steel maker like Nucor at a disadvantage.
Recent events
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
- Shareholder vote results
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
- Executive or board change
- Executive or board change
- Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
- Executive or board change
For income and retirement investors
Nucor has raised its dividend for at least nine straight years through fiscal 2025. Dividends per share rose from $1.61 in 2020 to $2.21 in 2025, about 6.5% a year, and took 29.4% of 2025 earnings. But free cash flow (cash left after spending on plants) was negative $188 million in 2025, so it did not cover the $512 million paid. The dividend yield was a modest 0.82% as of October 28, 2026. Buybacks were bigger: $10.5 billion over fiscal 2021–2025, versus $2.6 billion in dividends, though they slowed to $700 million in 2025. Shares outstanding fell 20.6% from October 2021 to July 2026.
The stock has fallen hard in downturns. It fell 68.3% in the 2008 financial crisis and took about eight years to recover. It dropped 41.5% in the 2020 COVID crash and 40.8% in the 2022 market slump, but recovered within six months both times. Single stocks carry more risk than diversified funds.
Questions investors ask
How does Nucor make money?
Nucor makes money mainly by making steel and steel products. Its steel mills brought in 61.6% of its $32.5 billion in revenue in 2025, supplying sheet, bar, beams and plate to service centers, fabricators and manufacturers. Sheet steel was the largest product line, at 28.2% of revenue. Another 31.8% came from steel products such as joists, decking, rebar, tubing and metal buildings, mostly for nonresidential construction such as warehouses and data centers. The raw materials segment, which mostly supplies Nucor's own mills, made up 6.7%.
Does Nucor raise its dividend every year?
Yes, so far. Nucor has raised its regular dividend for at least nine straight years through fiscal 2025, and the streak may be longer. It paid $2.21 a share in 2025, up from $1.61 in 2020, about 6.5% growth a year, and that used 29.4% of earnings. The yield was a modest 0.82% as of October 28, 2026. Nucor has returned far more cash through buybacks: $10.5 billion over fiscal 2021–2025.
Are Nucor's profits growing?
Not steadily. They fell for three straight years, then jumped in mid-2026. Net income dropped from $7.6 billion in fiscal 2022 to $1.7 billion in fiscal 2025, and earnings per share fell from $28.79 to $7.52. In the quarter ended July 4, 2026, net income rose 91.7% from a year earlier to about $1.16 billion, on revenue up 23% to $10.4 billion. Nucor calls its industry cyclical, meaning demand rises and falls with the economy. As of October 28, 2026, the stock traded at 36.1 times fiscal 2025 earnings.
Does Nucor have a lot of debt?
Nucor's debt is moderate for its size. As of July 4, 2026, it had about $7.1 billion of total debt against $2.7 billion of cash and investments, or net debt of roughly $4.4 billion. Shareholders' equity, what the company owns minus what it owes, was $22.1 billion. One thing to watch: free cash flow, the cash left after spending on plants and equipment, was negative $188 million in 2025, while Nucor still paid $512 million in dividends and $700 million in buybacks.
What ETFs hold Nucor stock?
Nucor is held by many ETFs, and its largest weights are mostly in steel and materials funds, including VanEck Steel ETF (SLX), First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund (FXZ), SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (XME), Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLB) and Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Materials ETF (RSPM). These funds spread money across many companies, which cuts the risk tied to any one stock, but they still focus on materials industries that rise and fall with the economy.