Nucor's Earnings Outlook

On Thursday, October 22, Nucor NUE will release its latest earnings report. Check out Benzinga's preview to understand the implications.

What Are Earnings, Net Income, And Earnings Per Share?

Earnings and EPS are useful metrics of profitability. Total earnings, also known as net income, is equal to total revenue minus total expenses. Dividing net income by the total number of shares outstanding yields EPS.

Earnings And Revenue

Based on management's projections, Nucor analysts model for earnings of $0.51 per share on sales of $4.54 billion. In the same quarter last year, Nucor reported EPS of $0.9 on revenue of $5.46 billion.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

Analysts who cover this company will publish forward-looking estimates of its revenue and EPS each quarter. Averaging together every EPS and revenue prediction that each analyst makes about a company in a quarter yields the "consensus estimates." A company posting earnings or revenue above or below the consensus estimate is known as an "earnings surprise" and may move the stock by a considerable margin.

The analyst consensus estimate would represent a 43.33% decrease in the company's earnings. Revenue would be down 16.93% from the year-ago period. In comparison to analyst estimates in the past, here is how the company's reported EPS stacks up:

Stock Performance

Shares of Nucor were trading at $48.51 as of October 20. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 7.06%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably a little upset going into this earnings release.