Why Nucor (NUE) Stock Is Up Today

Nucor (NUE) is up 5.4% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The most likely driver is a strong second-quarter earnings report paired with a bullish third-quarter outlook. Investors appear to be responding to better pricing, higher shipment volumes, and management’s view that earnings should improve again next quarter.

Details:

Nucor posted second-quarter 2026 net earnings of $1.16 billion, or $5.04 per diluted share, on net sales of $10.40 billion.

The company said earnings improved mainly because its steel mills segment benefited from higher average selling prices and higher volumes, while steel products also saw better volumes.

Management said steel mill shipments reached a second straight quarterly record, helped by investment across key U.S. end markets and supportive federal trade policies.

Nucor also said it expects higher consolidated earnings in the third quarter of 2026, with stronger pricing expected across major steel mill product categories and improved results in steel products.

Sources:

Nucor, SEC, Investing.com

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 63,500 shares for an estimated $13,704,865.
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 25,164 shares for an estimated $5,067,047.
KENNETH REX QUERY (Executive Vice President) has made 0 purchases and 3 sales selling 20,981 shares for an estimated $4,861,579.
DANIEL R. NEEDHAM (Executive Vice President) has made 0 purchases and 3 sales selling 16,769 shares for an estimated $3,603,506.
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
MICHAEL D KELLER (Vice Pres. and Corp. Contro) sold 4,554 shares for an estimated $1,028,566
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.

$NUE Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 605 institutional investors add shares of $NUE stock to their portfolio, and 536 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC removed 2,500,674 shares (-39.0%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $422,863,973
CAPITAL WORLD INVESTORS removed 2,108,672 shares (-69.1%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $356,576,435
ASCENTIS WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC added 740,192 shares (+33059.0%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $164,877,768
DIAMOND HILL CAPITAL MANAGEMENT INC removed 603,807 shares (-39.4%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $102,103,763
SG AMERICAS SECURITIES, LLC added 599,667 shares (+701.6%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $101,403,689
QUBE RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGIES LTD added 596,903 shares (+875.4%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $100,936,297
BLACKROCK, INC. added 486,525 shares (+2.6%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $82,271,377

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 Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress have traded $NUE stock 1 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 1 have been purchases and 0 have been sales.

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

SENATOR ALAN ARMSTRONG purchased up to $15,000 on 03/27.

To track congressional stock trading, check out Quiver Quantitative's congressional trading dashboard. You can access data on congressional stock trades through the Quiver Quantitative API Congress trades endpoint.

$NUE Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $NUE in the last several months. We have seen 1 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

JP Morgan issued a "Overweight" rating on 04/29/2026

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $NUE, check out Quiver Quantitative's $NUE forecast page.

$NUE Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $NUE recently. We have seen 10 analysts offer price targets for $NUE in the last 6 months, with a median target of $265.0.

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
Alexander Hacking from Citigroup set a target price of $260.0 on 04/29/2026

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.