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Nucor (NUE) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Nucor (NUE - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $149.92, moving +1.13% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.42% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 5.16%.

Coming into today, shares of the steel company had lost 11.47% in the past month. In that same time, the Basic Materials sector lost 1.62%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.27%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Nucor as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $4.13, down 46.15% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $8.26 billion, down 21.24% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $14.35 per share and revenue of $33.1 billion, which would represent changes of -50.16% and -20.26%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Nucor. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 9.61% higher. Nucor is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.

Investors should also note Nucor's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 10.33. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 8.46, which means Nucor is trading at a premium to the group.

The Steel - Producers industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 29, which puts it in the top 12% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow NUE in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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