Nucor CEO Leon Topalian told CNBC Friday he is expecting the good times to continue rolling the rest of the year after the steelmaker reported record earnings last quarter.
“Nucor expects next quarter to be strong, but quite frankly, with all the indicators we look at, we anticipate 2021 staying strong throughout the year,” he said in an interview with Jim Cramer on “Mad Money.”
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company announced Thursday that it turned a profit of $942.4 million, or $3.10 per share, in the first three months of 2021. The company recorded $7 billion in revenue, up 25% from a year ago and up 15% when compared with the same quarter that preceded the Covid-19 pandemic.
Strong demand and rising prices were a boon for Nucor’s steel mills segment, the company said. Steel manufacturing accounted for nearly two-thirds of the company’s revenue.
The results cap off a nearly $4 billion investment strategy spanning nine projects over multiple years by Nucor, Topalian said.
A large part of that investment went toward the construction of a plate mill in Brandenburg, Kentucky. The factory, where Nucor plans to produce steel plate for the wind farm end market, is slated to come online late next year.
“That investment is incredibly strategic, not only positioned where it is in the geography, but as we think about what’s happening in the renewables market in offshore wind,” Topalian said.
“That mill will be a unique differentiated value supplier to our customers today and well into the future and so we’re focused on the long term, we’re going to continue to invest and we’re going to continue to grow.”
Shares of Nucor rose 2.29% to close at $77.83.
