Nucor Corporation

Good morning and welcome to Nucor's second quarter 2026 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise and today's call is being recorded. After the speaker's prepared remarks, I will provide instructions for callers wishing to ask questions. I would now like to introduce Chris Jacobi, Director of Investor Relations. You may begin your call.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Nucor's second quarter earnings review and business update. Leading our call today is Leon Topalian, Chair and CEO, along with Steve Laxton, President and COO, and Jack Sullivan, CFO. Other members of Nucor's executive team are also here with us today and may participate during the Q&A portion of the call. Yesterday, we posted our second quarter earnings release and investor presentation to Nucor's IR website. We encourage you to access these materials as we will cover portions of them during the call. Today's discussion will include the use of non-GAAP financial measures and forward-looking information within the meaning of securities laws. Actual results may be different than forward-looking statements and involve risks outlined in our Safe Harbor Statement and disclosed in Nucor's SEC filings. The appendix of today's presentation includes supplemental information and disclosures along with a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures. So with that, let's turn the call over to Leon.

Thanks, Chris. And before discussing the quarterly results, I want to begin with the most important measure of our performance and our greatest value, safety. Earlier this year, we launched our Safest Summer Ever initiative because we know that the summer months can present additional risks. As we move into August, I'm pleased to say that we're on pace to not only make this the safest summer in New Course history, but also the safest year as well. While I'm proud of our progress, our job isn't finished. Let's remain focused and make sure every one of our teammates goes home safely at the end of every shift. Turning to our financial results, Nucor delivered another strong quarter with improved earnings across all three operating segments. We generated approximately $2 billion of EBITDA and earned $5.04 per share, excluding a non-cash benefit of 20 cents. Adjusted earnings were $4.84 per share. During the quarter, we returned $479 million to Nucor shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, representing 41% of our net earnings. Capital expenditures totaled $571 million in the quarter, and we still expect to reinvest approximately $2.5 billion for the year, with about 60% of that allocated toward growth projects. Moving to our operational performance, demand for steel and steel products remains strong across most of our key end markets, and our teams continue to execute exceptionally well. and the steel mill's quarterly shipments reached an all-time high of 7.1 million tons. This is the second straight quarter we've set a new record. We're seeing strength across all of our product categories and are benefiting from the investments we've made to grow our core steelmaking capabilities over the past few years. In particular, I want to recognize our team at Brandenburg, which shipped more than 230,000 tons this quarter, leading to another quarterly shipment record in plate. In steel products, shipments were up 11% versus Q1, with growth across all major products in the portfolio. This performance was led by our two group, which posted a second consecutive quarterly shipment record and strong earnings. And even as our shipments grow, our backlogs continue to build. This reflects the business momentum we are seeing from our customers across a broad set of sectors in the economy. Our team is executing at a very high level right now. Execution is critical, but so is having a level playing field. While we saw an increase from the first quarter, finished steel imports are down 25% year over year due to the strengthening of the 232 program along with anti-dumping and countervailing duties on corrosion resistant steel and other steel products. The impacts are real and they are measurable. Vigorous enforcement of our trade laws is helping level the playing field for domestic producers by curtailing the flood of unfairly traded steel into the U.S. market. Earlier this month, as expected, the Trump administration announced it has opted not to renew the USMCA trade agreement unless changes are made. This decision triggers an annual review process that provides a real opportunity to improve demand for North American content while closing loopholes that operate to the detriment of the American industry. One important change we hope to see is a requirement that all steel used in any steel or steel-intensive products must be melted and poured in North America to qualify as USMCA compliant. We also believe the North American steel purchasing requirement for automotive products should be increased with a melted and poured requirement effective immediately. Finally, a renewed agreement should require Canada and Mexico to take additional steps to prevent excess capacity from non-USMCA economies, particularly China, from entering North American supply chains and undermining our industries and workers. Beyond USMCA, the US Trade Representative is currently conducting investigations under Section 301. We support the administration's use of tools like these to level the playing field for American manufacturers and achieve balanced trade. We also commend the administration's decision to act consistently with Section 232 program and exempt vital steelmaking inputs and raw materials from the final action in the Brazil Enforced Labor 301 investigations. We urge the administration to do the same in all other 301 investigations. These are more than simply trade policy priorities. Their investments in America's long-term industrial strength. With our nation recently celebrating its 250th anniversary, it's worth remembering that America's success has been built not only on freedom, but also on the ingenuity, resilience, and productive capacity of American manufacturing. A robust industrial base has always been essential to our economic prosperity and our national security. For generations, steel has been the backbone of America's growth, security, and prosperity, and it will remain essential for generations to come. At Nucor, we are proud to help build the bridges, buildings, energy infrastructure, manufacturing facilities, and defense capabilities that keep our country strong. With that, I'll turn it over to Steve for an update on our growth initiatives and market outlook. Steve?