Nucor (NUE) Reports Q1 EPS of $0.07

Nucor (NYSE: NUE) reported Q1 EPS of $0.07, may not compare to analyst estimate of $0.95. Revenue for the quarter came in at $5.62 billion versus the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion.

Outlook:

The COVID-19 pandemic's impact on market conditions has been varied across our different product groups. While the automotive and energy markets have seen the sharpest decline, nonresidential construction, which is our largest end market, has shown resiliency moving through this pandemic. Where we have seen impact on nonresidential construction activity, the sentiment is projects would be delayed rather than cancelled. It is also worth noting that there has been a fairly significant supply side response to the pandemic, with a number of our competitors having idled capacity in response to these challenging conditions.

It is likely that the Company will report a loss in the second quarter of 2020. While the economic outlook is highly uncertain at present, with the duration of the COVID-19 induced downturn difficult to predict, we currently believe that market conditions will bottom in the second quarter and Nucor will return to profitability in the second half of this year.

We believe our financial strength will be a critical factor enabling Nucor to weather this sudden economic downturn, while reliably serving our customers, performing for our investors and remaining an employer of choice for our teammates. To preserve our flexibility and reliability during this time, the Company has-instituted enterprise-wide efforts to conserve cash and support our teammates, which include, among other things:

Capital Expenditures: We have reviewed our capital expenditures budget and decided to freeze spending on certain capital projects currently in process and delay capital projects that have not begun. As a result, we have revised our 2020 capital expenditures estimate down to less than $1.50 billion, from our initial projection of approximately $2.0 billion for the year.
Working Capital: Our net working capital position is expected to contract and provide a source of incremental liquidity as business activity has slowed rapidly in recent weeks. In addition, we are taking deliberate steps to reduce raw material inventory, bringing it more in line with our anticipated near-term production requirements. We expect this temporarily reduced investment in working capital to benefit our operating cash flow in the near term.
Pay & Benefits: Overall, we expect a significant decrease in compensation expense in 2020 as almost all our remuneration plans are heavily weighted toward incentive compensation which rewards productivity and profitability. Nucor's "share the pain, share the gain" approach means that every team member at Nucor has a significant portion of their compensation at risk and tied to performance. As a result, we are confident that there will be no need for us to contemplate widespread layoffs during this crisis, just as we had none during the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and 2009. We have established a Pay & Benefits Task Force that is charged with helping to ensure the financial well-being of our teammates through this crisis. This task force has recommended, and we have implemented, the assurance of a compensation floor to production and non-production hourly teammates pay during the crisis. Nucor teammates can expect to maintain their normal benefits as well. Our executive compensation program intentionally sets base salaries below the market median for similar size industrial and materials companies. With much lower profitability expected in 2020, our executive leadership will incur a significant reduction in earned incentive compensation on an absolute dollar and percentage basis compared to compensation attributable to 2019 performance.

At the end of the first quarter of 2020, we had $1.39 billion in cash and short-term investments on hand and our $1.50 billion revolving credit facility remains undrawn and available. We believe we continue to have access to the capital markets at a reasonable cost of funds. Our credit ratings remain Baa1/A- with stable outlooks at both Moody's and Standard & Poor's.

Finally, Nucor has paid and increased its regular, or base dividend, for 47 consecutive years and we expect to continue this practice through this difficult period as well.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Nucor (NUE) click here.

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