Nucor (NUE +1.15%) has announced its financial guidance for Q2 2013, and it's not pretty.
According to the company, Q2 earnings are likely to be within a few pennies of what the company earned in Q1, ranging from $0.25 to $0.30 per share (versus last quarter's $0.26). In any case, the number will be down significantly from the $0.35 per share that Nucor earned in Q2 2012.
Additionally, Nucor noted that last year's Q2 results included accounting charges and credits that effectively depressed that quarter's earnings by a net of $0.08 per share. Absent these accounting effects, Q2 2012 earnings would have been even bigger -- and the drop to Q2 2013 would, likewise, have been steeper.
Operationally, Nucor advised that energy and automotive markets remain strong for Nucor. Performance in its steel mills is down sequentially, however, with sheet and structural steel demand weakening, while plate demand strengthens somewhat.
The company noted that, while non-residential construction markets "continue to lack sustained momentum," they are improving, and the firm's fabricated construction products businesses, including rebar fabrication, joists and decking, and pre-engineered metal buildings, are expected to turn a profit in Q2.
