Nucor Rises After Strong Q3 Results and Confident Fourth-Quarter Outlook

Nucor Corporation (NUE) is up 6.2% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The rally appears tied to a strong third-quarter earnings report, with higher steel prices and shipment volumes driving improved profitability across Nucor’s core businesses. Investors also seem to be responding well to management’s fourth-quarter outlook, which called for results to be generally in line with or modestly above the just-reported quarter.

Details:

Nucor posted third-quarter 2026 net earnings of $1.32 billion, or $5.80 per diluted share, up from $1.16 billion, or $5.04 per diluted share, in the prior quarter.

Net sales reached $11.25 billion, while the steel mills segment benefited from higher average selling prices and increased volumes, and the steel products segment improved on stronger volumes and realized pricing.

Management said fourth-quarter earnings should be generally in line with or modestly higher than the third quarter, with higher realized pricing expected to help offset seasonally lower volumes and higher costs.

Nucor also highlighted robust demand across key end markets, progress at its West Virginia sheet mill and Berkeley galvanizing line, and about $629 million returned to shareholders during the quarter through buybacks and dividends.

Sources:

Nucor Investor Relations, SEC, Zacks

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$NUE Insider Trading Activity

$NUE insiders have traded $NUE stock on the open market 26 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 26 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $NUE stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

LEON J TOPALIAN (Chair and CEO) has made 0 purchases and 6 sales selling 78,000 shares for an estimated $18,821,325.
DAVID A SUMOSKI (Executive Vice President) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 33,068 shares for an estimated $7,462,307.
ALLEN C BEHR (Executive Vice President) has made 0 purchases and 5 sales selling 17,835 shares for an estimated $4,404,044.
KENNETH REX QUERY (Executive Vice President) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 13,529 shares for an estimated $3,400,843.
DANIEL R. NEEDHAM (Executive Vice President) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 12,888 shares for an estimated $2,912,688.
JOHN J HOLLATZ (Executive Vice President) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 10,560 shares for an estimated $2,729,291.
NOAH C HANNERS (Executive Vice President) sold 6,472 shares for an estimated $1,465,908
THOMAS J. BATTERBEE (Executive Vice President) sold 4,000 shares for an estimated $1,044,062
MICHAEL D KELLER (Vice Pres. and Corp. Contro) sold 4,554 shares for an estimated $1,028,566
STEPHEN D LAXTON (President and COO) sold 3,968 shares for an estimated $1,019,617
RANDY J SPICER (Executive Vice President) sold 2,500 shares for an estimated $562,500
BRADLEY FORD (Executive Vice President) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 2,240 shares for an estimated $519,962.

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

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$NUE Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 729 institutional investors add shares of $NUE stock to their portfolio, and 578 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC removed 2,049,323 shares (-52.5%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $456,486,698
SIXTH STREET PARTNERS MANAGEMENT COMPANY, L.P. added 1,899,235 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $423,054,596
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO added 1,421,933 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $316,735,575
ACADIAN ASSET MANAGEMENT LLC added 910,037 shares (+19621.3%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $202,710,741
BANK OF AMERICA CORP /DE/ added 845,668 shares (+68.6%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $188,372,547
SLATE PATH CAPITAL LP removed 782,700 shares (-38.3%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $174,346,425
FMR LLC added 737,658 shares (+33.0%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $164,313,319

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$NUE Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $NUE recently. We have seen 6 analysts offer price targets for $NUE in the last 6 months, with a median target of $277.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Lawson Winder from B of A Securities set a target price of $280.0 on 07/09/2026
Samuel McKinney from Keybanc set a target price of $274.0 on 06/24/2026
Carlos De Alba from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $258.0 on 06/22/2026
Timna Tanners from Wells Fargo set a target price of $283.0 on 06/18/2026
Bill Peterson from JP Morgan set a target price of $282.0 on 06/10/2026
Richard Garchitorena from Barclays set a target price of $270.0 on 05/22/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.