S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) reported its results for the fourth quarter. Nucor and its affiliates manufacture steel and steel products for customers mainly located in North America.

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Nucor Earnings Cheat Sheet for the Fourth Quarter

Results: Reported a profit of $137.1 million (43 cents per diluted share) in the quarter. The steel and iron company had a net loss of $11.4 million or a loss of 4 cents per share in the year earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 25.3% to $4.83 billion from the year earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: NUE beat the mean analyst estimate of 29 cents per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $4.77 billion.

Key Stats:

The company has enjoyed double-digit year-over-year percentage revenue growth for the past five quarters. Over that span, the company has averaged growth of 27.5%, with the biggest boost coming in the first quarter when revenue rose 32.3% from the year earlier quarter.

The company has now topped analyst estimates for the last four quarters. It beat the mark by 6 cents in the third quarter, by 13 cents in the second quarter, and by 15 cents in the first quarter.

Looking Forward: Analysts appear increasingly optimistic about the company’s results for the next quarter. The average estimate for the first quarter of the next fiscal year has moved up from 66 cents a share to 68 cents over the last seven days. At $2.33 per share, the average estimate for the fiscal year has fallen from $2.46 ninety days ago.

Competitors to Watch: Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD), AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE:AKS), United States Steel Corp. (NYSE:X), Universal Stainless & Alloy Products (NASDAQ:USAP), Grupo Simec S.A.B. de C.V. (AMEX:SIM), Gerdau SA (NYSE:GGB), Worthington Industries, Inc. (NYSE:WOR), Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCHN), Friedman Industries (AMEX:FRD), and Evraz Highveld Steel & Vandium Ltd (HGVLY).

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(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

To contact the reporter on this story: Derek Hoffman at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com

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