CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) today announced guidance for its first quarter ending April 1, 2023. Nucor expects first quarter earnings to be in the range of $3.70 to $3.80 per diluted share. Nucor reported net earnings of $4.89 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2022 and $7.67 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2022.
Included in the fourth quarter of 2022 earnings were the following: an approximately $60.4 million net benefit, or $0.24 per diluted share, related to state tax credits; an approximately $88.0 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, net benefit related to a change in a valuation allowance of a state deferred tax asset; and a pre-tax $96.0 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, charge to write-off the remaining carrying value of our leasehold interest in unproved oil and gas properties.
The profitability of the steel mills segment is expected to increase in the first quarter of 2023 as compared to the fourth quarter of 2022 due to higher margins and volumes, with the largest improvement expected to occur at our sheet mills.
Within the steel products segment, we expect continued strong profitability in the first quarter of 2023, with some decrease expected from the fourth quarter of 2022 due to slower construction activity and some reductions in realized pricing. Overall, we expect first quarter 2023 steel products segment earnings to be higher than the first quarter of 2022.
In the raw materials segment, excluding the impact of the impairment charge recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022, we expect increased profitability compared to the fourth quarter of 2022 due to higher volumes at our DRI facilities and scrap recycling and brokerage operations.
On a combined basis, the operating income during the first quarter of 2023 from our three business segments is expected to exceed that of the fourth quarter of 2022. However, we expect consolidated net earnings to decrease compared to the fourth quarter of 2022 due to less favorable intercompany eliminations in the first quarter of 2023 and the absence of state tax benefits that were recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022. Fluctuations in intercompany eliminations are largely driven by sales activity between segments and the change in value of intercompany inventory at the end of each quarter based on the timing of shipments between segments and to external customers.
Nucor has repurchased approximately 2.0 million shares at an average price of $158.57 per share during the first quarter. Year to date, Nucor has returned approximately $450 million to stockholders in the form of share repurchases and dividend payments.
About Nucor
Nucor and its affiliates are manufacturers of steel and steel products, with operating facilities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Products produced include: carbon and alloy steel -- in bars, beams, sheet and plate; hollow structural section tubing; electrical conduit; steel racking; steel piling; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; precision castings; steel fasteners; metal building systems; insulated metal panels; overhead doors; steel grating; and wire and wire mesh. Nucor, through The David J. Joseph Company, also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and hot briquetted iron / direct reduced iron; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap. Nucor is North America's largest recycler.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this news release are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties which we expect will or may occur in the future and may impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. The words "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "intend," "project," "may," "will," "should," "could" and similar expressions are intended to identify those forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company's best judgment based on current information, and, although we base these statements on circumstances that we believe to be reasonable when made, there can be no assurance that future events will not affect the accuracy of such forward-looking information. As such, the forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may vary materially from the projected results and expectations discussed in this news release. Factors that might cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (1) competitive pressure on sales and pricing, including pressure from imports and substitute materials; (2) U.S. and foreign trade policies affecting steel imports or exports; (3) the sensitivity of the results of our operations to general market conditions, and in particular, prevailing market steel prices and changes in the supply and cost of raw materials, including pig iron, iron ore and scrap steel; (4) the availability and cost of electricity and natural gas, which could negatively affect our cost of steel production or result in a delay or cancellation of existing or future drilling within our natural gas drilling programs; (5) critical equipment failures and business interruptions; (6) market demand for steel products, which, in the case of many of our products, is driven by the level of nonresidential construction activity in the United States; (7) impairment in the recorded value of inventory, equity investments, fixed assets, goodwill or other long-lived assets; (8) uncertainties and volatility surrounding the global economy, including excess world capacity for steel production, inflation and interest rate changes; (9) fluctuations in currency conversion rates; (10) significant changes in laws or government regulations affecting environmental compliance, including legislation and regulations that result in greater regulation of greenhouse gas emissions that could increase our energy costs, capital expenditures and operating costs or cause one or more of our permits to be revoked or make it more difficult to obtain permit modifications; (11) the cyclical nature of the steel industry; (12) capital investments and their impact on our performance; (13) our safety performance; (14) our ability to integrate businesses we acquire; and (15) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, any variants of the virus, and any other similar pandemic or public health situation. These and other factors are discussed in Nucor's regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of Nucor's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release speak only as of this date, and Nucor does not assume any obligation to update them, except as may be required by applicable law.
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SOURCE Nucor Corporation
