Q3 2026 Nucor Corp Earnings Call

October 27, 2026

Speaker #1: Good morning, and welcome to NUCOR's third quarter 2026 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise and today's call is being recorded.

Speaker #1: After the speakers 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.

Speaker #2: Thank you, and good morning everyone. Welcome to NUCOR's third 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.

Speaker #2: 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 third quarter earnings release and investor presentation to NUCOR's IR website.

Speaker #2: We encourage you to access these materials as we'll 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.

Speaker #2: 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.

Speaker #2: So, with that, let's turn the call over to Leon.

Speaker #3: Thanks, Chris. I want to begin by recognizing our 33,000 teammates for making this summer of 2026 our safest summer ever. Summer brings added safety challenges, and our team met them with focus and determination.

Speaker #3: That's something to be proud of, and it reflects our commitment to the most important value we have: safety. And as we finish the year, let's keep looking out for one another and make sure every one of our team members goes home safely at the end of every shift.

Speaker #3: Turning to our third quarter financial results, NUCOR delivered its strongest quarter in more than 3 years, with approximately 2.3 billion dollars of EBITDA and earnings of $5.80 per share.

Speaker #3: Jack's going to unpack our results in more detail, but many of the themes we've highlighted throughout the year continue this quarter. Strong demand across key end markets, growing contributions from recent investments, and federal policies that support a healthy, domestic steel sector.

Speaker #3: And with a capital spending moderating as major projects near completion, that strength is increasingly showing up in NUCOR's free cash flow. We also remain committed to meaningful shareholder returns.

Speaker #3: Returning 629 million dollars in dividends and buybacks during the quarter, bringing our year-to-date total to nearly 1.4 billion dollars. Operationally, the NUCOR team is executing exceptionally well across each of our business segments, and our steel mills quarterly shipments exceeded 7.2 million tons, setting another shipment record for the third consecutive quarter.

Speaker #3: This would not be possible without the investments we've made over the past 6 years, many of which are now online and contributing to our results.

Speaker #3: For example, the plate group set another quarterly shipment record, Brandenburg shipped approximately 240,000 tons, or roughly one-third of the group's total shipments. The team has done an amazing job bringing the mill's full capabilities online, and advancing customer qualifications.

Speaker #3: The bar group also set another quarterly shipment record, our Lexington Micro Mill has had a very successful ramp-up since coming online last year. The team became EBITDA positive in March, and has built on that progress, reaching a utilization rate of nearly 80% in the third quarter.

Speaker #3: We've also seen very strong results from Kingman, Arizona, and our micro mills at Frostproof and Sedalia. As well as our upgraded Kankakee Mill, helped to deliver our best merchant bar quarter in several years.

Speaker #3: In steel products, we saw a significant improvement in quarterly earnings, higher shipments, and a notable inflection in pricing led to margin expansion across most of our major product groups.

Speaker #3: Joyce and Deck had a standout quarter with shipments up about 20% and realized pricing increasing by 110 dollars a ton. And in raw materials, our Louisiana DRI plant has begun capturing CO2 emissions for transport and storage through a project with ExxonMobil.

Speaker #3: The project is designed to capture and store up to 800,000 tons of CO2 annually, supporting our greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and strengthening NUCOR's position as one of the world's cleanest steel producers.

Speaker #3: Congratulations to our entire team in Louisiana on this achievement. The strength we are seeing in today's domestic steel market is being driven by healthy economic conditions and broad-based investment across key end markets.

Speaker #3: NUCOR is benefiting from these conditions because trade policy improvements over the past decade have created more level playing field, in particular vigorous trade law enforcements and strengthening Section 232 measures are allowing us to realize a greater share of the strong demand environment in the U.S.

Speaker #3: Finnish steel imports are down more than 13% year over year, and down 24% compared to 2024. Fair trade supports strong markets, unfair trade distorts them.

Speaker #3: However, import volumes have been increasing in recent months, including a massive surge from South Korea despite the Section 232 tariffs. From decades of experience fighting for a level playing field, we know we must always stay vigilant.

Speaker #3: Therefore, we will work closely with the administration to ensure trade measures remain robust and effective. But make no mistake, demand is very healthy, even as imports have crept higher this year, domestic shipments have risen, and each of the past three quarters strong market fundamentals and favorable trade policies will continue to support a positive outlook for the domestic steel industry.

Speaker #3: With that, I'll turn it over to Steve for an update on our growth initiatives and market outlook. Steve?

Speaker #2: Thank you, Leon, and thank you all for joining us this morning. We're in the final stages of construction at our new sheet mill project in West Virginia, and we're commissioning equipment across the site.

Speaker #2: I want to thank the team in West Virginia for their hard work and excellent safety performance throughout the multi-year construction phase. They've kept the project on time, and on budget, while reaching several important milestones.

Speaker #2: In September, the melt shop produced its first heat, and in October, we started shipping coils from the pickle line to our downstream NUCOR divisions.

Speaker #2: And by December, we expect to run our first coils through the hot mill, cold mill, and construction-grade galve lines. As we complete commissioning, the team is preparing to ramp production in early 2027.

Speaker #2: Our priority will be to operate safely and reliably while steadily increasing production toward our 50% utilization target by the end of 2027. Our sheet mill network provides an important advantage as production begins.

Speaker #2: By gradually shifting baseload tons from other NUCOR sheet mills to West Virginia, we can provide the new mill a steady base of orders to support a successful ramp through 2027 and 2028.

Speaker #2: As with any project of this scale and complexity, we expect startup costs to remain elevated in 2027, at levels similar to or higher to those in 2026.

Speaker #2: Turning to our Berkeley South Carolina sheet mill, our new automotive-grade galvanizing line began production early this month. We expect utilization rates for the new galve line to reach 50% in the second quarter of next year, on its way to full run rate by the end of 2027.

Speaker #2: At full production, this new line will add 500,000 tons of annual galvanizing capacity. Taken together, our investments in West Virginia and South Carolina enhance NUCOR's ability to serve the automotive market, where we are a relatively underweighted today.

Speaker #2: As both projects ramp and complete customer qualifications, we will build on the strong relationships we already have in place with many of North America's leading automakers.

Speaker #2: But we are not simply waiting for these investments to ramp. While North American automotive production is essentially unchanged year to date, NUCOR's flat-rolled shipments to automotive customers are up 4%.

Speaker #2: And as we grow our automotive shipments, we're expanding what we can offer with the capabilities we have in place today. Recently, we commercialized exposed quality galvanized steel for the exterior panel of an SUV platform.

Speaker #2: We accomplished this using thin slab casting demonstrating NUCOR's innovation in EAF steelmaking. And as new growth projects come online, we'll have even more opportunities to expand our position in the automotive market.

Speaker #2: Moving to our towers and structures business, we're encouraged by how each of our facilities is progressing and the strength of our customer demand. Our Decatur Alabama facility is on track to be EBITDA positive this month, while our Crawfordsville, Indiana facility began full production in the third quarter and is expected to follow a similar path toward profitability.

Speaker #2: Our Bringham City Utah facility remains on track to reach full production by mid-2027. We are now qualified with more than 30 utilities, with additional customer qualifications underway.

Speaker #2: And we've entered into multi-year agreements with several of the largest utilities in the United States. That momentum is reflected in our order backlog, which has more than doubled since the start of the year, and extends into early 2028.

Speaker #2: Based on the strength of customer demand, we recently announced a combined 165 million dollars of investments to increase the capacity of our Indiana and Alabama facilities by about 50%.

Speaker #2: As a result, we now expect our long-term annual EBITDA contribution from our towers and structures business to reach approximately 200 million dollars, up from the 150 million dollars previously forecast.

Speaker #2: Turning toward demand outlook, NUCOR continues to expect steel mill shipments growth to finish closer to the higher end of our 5 to 10 percent range for 2026, supported by several durable underlying drivers.

Speaker #2: Let me touch on a few of these. First, infrastructure. While the IIJA was passed about five years ago, the infrastructure investment activity was meant to spur is still accelerating.

Speaker #2: State-level decision-making and permitting have in many cases taken years to complete, extending construction activity over a longer period of time. Today, many projects are underway, but new ones are still being approved, and over 135 billion dollars of funding has yet to be spent as of August.

Speaker #2: In addition, steel requirements for the border wall are substantial, and stadium construction shows no signs of slowing. Second, reshoring and digital infrastructure. The COVID pandemic highlighted the fragility of our domestic supply chain and underscored the need to manufacture more in the U.S.

Speaker #2: And supportive federal actions on tax, trade, and regulatory fronts have helped stimulate considerably higher levels of manufacturing construction. This has broader than the chip fab activity first encouraged by the CHIPS Act and now includes sectors like pharmaceuticals, automotive, appliance, and electrical components.

Speaker #2: And data center construction activity has gone from a small niche, to a significant driver of non-residential building construction activity. Finally, energy. Rising demand aging infrastructure and the need to strengthen the grid are driving substantial investment in the power sector.

Speaker #2: Utilities plan to spend nearly 1.4 trillion dollars over the next five years, with steel-intensive investments ranging from generation and substations to transmission upgrades. Beyond power, we're seeing strong demand across the oil and gas sector, including LNG terminals and pipeline construction, and growing domestic production of oil country tubular goods.

Speaker #2: We see these trends as durable, and we believe NUCOR is incredibly well-positioned with our world-class manufacturing team and broad portfolio to meet the needs of our customers across these diverse applications.

Speaker #2: With that, let me turn the call over to Jack. Jack?

Speaker #3: Thanks, Steve, and good morning, everyone. In the third quarter, NUCOR generated net earnings of 1.3 billion, or $5.80 per share. This exceeded the midpoint of our guidance range by roughly 3.5%, primarily due to higher-than-expected shipments and higher average selling prices in our steel mills segment.

Speaker #3: Let me now review our third-quarter performance by segment. The steel mill segment generated 1.8 billion of pre-tax earnings, an increase of 232 million from the prior quarter.

Speaker #3: As Leon mentioned, we set another quarterly shipment record with volumes up 2%. Average selling prices rose across the segment, led by our sheet and structural groups.

Speaker #3: These increases were partially offset by higher costs. As a reminder, the second quarter benefited from 130 million in cash refunds that reduced cost of goods sold, and that benefit did not recur in the third quarter.

Speaker #3: Turning to steel products, we generated pre-tax earnings of 465 million, an increase of 112 million from the prior quarter. Volumes increased 6%, and average selling prices rose 7%.

Speaker #3: The improvement in pricing was particularly encouraging, as realized pricing in our downstream businesses is catching up with the higher steel input costs that compressed margins earlier this year.

Speaker #3: As a result, the EBITDA margin for our steel products segment increased approximately 200 basis points, from the second quarter. And in our raw materials segment, we generated pre-tax earnings of 105 million, compared to 146 million in the prior quarter, reflecting lower pricing in shipments.

Speaker #3: Pre-operating and startup costs total 124 million, compared to 120 million in the prior quarter. Turning to capital allocation and the balance sheet, we generated 1.6 billion of free cash flow in the third quarter, bringing our year-to-date total to nearly 2.7 billion.

Speaker #3: Cash from operations has grown from 900 million in the first quarter to over 2.2 billion in the third, as we've benefit from healthy market conditions and growing contributions from our recent investments.

Speaker #3: At the same time, capital spending is moderating, as our major projects near completion. We've deployed just under 1.9 billion in CapEx year-to-date, with the majority going toward growth projects.

Speaker #3: For the full year, we expect our capital expenditures to finish at or slightly below our original 2.5 billion dollar estimate. Our free cash flow supports meaningful returns to shareholders.

Speaker #3: During the quarter, we returned 629 million through dividends and share repurchases. Up approximately 150 million from the second quarter. Year-to-date, we've returned nearly 1.4 billion, or 42% of net earnings.

Speaker #3: We remain committed to returning at least 40% of net earnings to shareholders on an annual basis. All of this is underpinned by our strong balance sheet and investment-grade credit profile.

Speaker #3: We ended the quarter with approximately 3.6 billion in cash and liquidity of 4.3 billion. Total debt as a percentage of capital was 23%, and our credit ratings remain the highest of any North American steel producer.

Speaker #3: Looking ahead, we expect our CapEx to decline further in 2027, extending the step-down from peak spending in '24 and '25. We'll share more detail on our 2027 capital allocation plans on our year-end call in January.

Speaker #3: Turning to our fourth-quarter outlook, we expect consolidated earnings to be in line with or modestly higher than the third quarter results. In steel mills, we expect stable earnings, as higher average pricing across all product groups is offset by seasonally lower volumes and higher costs.

Speaker #3: The cost increase reflects lower fixed cost absorption and higher startup spending at West Virginia, as we add teammates and prepared or ramp production. In steel products, higher pricing is expected to offset the impact of lower volumes, resulting in stable earnings for the segment.

Speaker #3: In raw materials, we expect slightly lower earnings, primarily due to lower realized DRI pricing. Finally, we expect to benefit from lower inter-segment profit eliminations that should reduce corporate and elimination expense relative to the third quarter.

Speaker #3: And as 2026 draws to a close, we're excited about NUCOR's earnings prospects for 2027. Healthy, durable demand across key in-markets, another step up in contributions from new growth projects, and supportive federal policy all position us for another strong year.

Speaker #3: And with the broadest range of capabilities in the North American steel market, we're confident the NUCOR team will deliver on that opportunity for our customers and shareholders.

Speaker #3: And with that, we'd like to hear from you, and answer any questions you may have. Operator, please open the line for questions.

Speaker #2: We will now begin the question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 to raise your hand.

Speaker #2: To withdraw your question, please press star 1 again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality.

Speaker #2: If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Nick Cash with Goldman Sachs & Co.

Speaker #2: Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Speaker #3: Hi, team. Good morning and thank you for taking my questions. The first question I have is, you've been running at record shipment levels this year and suggesting it'll be closer to the 10% range driven by strength and demand over the past few quarters, as well as backlog visibility.

Speaker #3: I just wanted to note, as you think into '27, how much further organic volume growth do you think NUCOR's existing system can generate before considering contribution from West Virginia?

Speaker #3: And then which end markets give you the most confidence in another year of growth?

Speaker #4: Hey, Nick. It's the Leon I'll kick us off, and I want to begin with something I shared in the opening. NUCOR's just come through the safest summer ever.

Speaker #4: And if we look back at our history, the months of June, July, and August have historically been the most dangerous. And the most opportunity for injuries across our entire enterprise.

Speaker #4: Our team set out a very audacious goal to target no injuries for those three months. And while we didn't meet that, we ended up with the safest three months in the history of NUCOR, and now our putting those efforts towards the safest fall.

Speaker #4: The thing to really remember in all of that is every one of those numbers that we track has a name. Every name has a family, and every family deserves to be complete.

Speaker #4: Our greatest responsibility as leaders in this company is to the men and women of this amazing company of ours. And so thank you, team, for what you do and how you take care of our customers.

Speaker #4: And for working safe each and every day, Nick, as you talk, as we came off the highs of '21 and '22, '23 was an okay year.

Speaker #4: '24 and '25 were very tepid. But look, our investment strategies are capital allocation philosophy has been to invest for the long term. And so over the last six and a half years, you've seen NUCOR deploy about 19 billion dollars' worth of capital half in organic growth and the other half in M&A.

Speaker #4: And so it's the ultimate strategy of playing to where the puck's going to be, not where it's at. Understanding our customer demand, understanding the capability set that are needed by our customers, and building and creating those opportunities to win.

Speaker #4: And that is exactly what you're seeing NUCOR do today, executing on an incredibly strategic plan to grow the core expand beyond, and live our culture.

Speaker #4: And so we've had the best quarter in three years. We're on the track to have the safest year in all of our entire history.

Speaker #4: '26 is shaping up to be the third best financially year in the history of our company. And we fully expect that '27 will be even stronger.

Speaker #4: But we're that coming from. And the end market probably that gets more attention in the entire economy is data centers. And while that's a major part in some of our product groups, it represents about 15%, 1/5% of our entire backlog.

Speaker #4: And as an enterprise. But it's a strong end market. But so is chips and technology and hardware. Natural gas and gas power plants. LNG export terminals.

Speaker #4: Nuclear utilities. Pharma. Heavy equipment is coming back and gangbusters. Shipbuilding. Military and defense spending. Appliance and HVAC. And so I would tell you my 31 years of NUCOR, Nick, we are seeing I am seeing currently the strongest demand environment across the breadth of NUCOR's products.

Speaker #4: Couple that with the investments that we've made in West Virginia, Brandenburg, Lexington, our micromill in Lexington, Kingman's Arizona, Crawfordsville's paint line, Berkeley's galvanizing line, and Brandenburg's plate mill are all now firing where again, as Steve mentioned just a minute ago, West Virginia will fully commission this year and begin its full ramp in 2027.

Speaker #4: We are at the tip of the spear of the greatest economic growth in our nation. And I couldn't be more optimistic about what 2027 and beyond is going to bring.

Speaker #4: Finally, I would tell you with the last part of all of that, as that capex unwinds of our spend into 2027, it skyrockets the free cash flow on top of the margins that we're earning on top of the contributions that the new investments are already having.

Speaker #4: And we'll continue to ramp into '27. It means we're fueled for growth, disciplined growth, just like we have over the last six years that money is not burning a hole in our pocket.

Speaker #4: And if we don't have a great use for it, you're going to get it back. Over the last 16 years, we've returned nearly 15 billion dollars to our shareholders through dividends or share buybacks.

Speaker #4: And we will continue to focus on that. However, I can tell you there are massive areas of growth for our company that we're targeting now, mostly in the expand beyond categories.

Speaker #4: But we are just getting warmed up. I couldn't be more optimistic about 2027 and beyond in the future of NUCOR.

Speaker #3: That is all really fantastic color. I really appreciate it. And then just one quick follow-up. I mean, you mentioned just on the cost side, costs were a little bit higher than expected.

Speaker #3: I think mills margins were a little bit lighter than expected, acknowledging the 130 million tailwind from last quarter. Could you provide any further color on any inflationary pressures you might be experiencing?

Speaker #3: I know you mentioned some lower fixed cost absorption, but any other impacts experienced in the quarter? And then for the four-queue guide of flat earnings, can you provide any additional color on how these impacts or how these costs could impact margin trajectory in the year-end?

Speaker #2: Yeah, Nick. Good morning. It's Jack. You're right. Conversion cost did tick up some in Q3, but I think we need to put a few things into perspective here.

Speaker #2: NUCOR's EBITDA margin expanded to over 20%. And that's our highest level in the past three years. So we continue to see margin expansion even with some of that conversion cost per ton creep.

Speaker #2: But in terms of specifics and where we saw that, I'd point you to certain consumables freight, certainly energy, and just some other services. But keep in mind, when you're running at high utilization rates, particularly in hot demand environments like we're seeing right now, you do tend to see some costs creep up just to keep operations running.

Speaker #2: Maybe that's overtime pay or some higher energy costs when in softer markets we may have chosen to curtail and hire energy cost environments. But and you pointed out correctly, we also didn't benefit from the tariff refunds that occurred in Q2.

Speaker #2: The other thing you need to Q3 when you're comparing it to Q2, we did have more planned outages in the quarter. And of course, that led to some lower fixed cost absorption.

Speaker #2: So I'd say your last question about looking ahead to Q4, I think you could expect a modest uptick in conversion costs Q over Q.

Speaker #2: And again, we do have some outages in Q4. We've got we've pointed to some gradual increase in pre-operating startup costs as we get West Virginia closer to ramp up.

Speaker #2: And yeah, those would be the I think those would be the things that point to.

Speaker #3: Thank you so much. I'll pass it on.

Speaker #4: Thanks, Nick.

Speaker #1: Your next question comes from the line of Bill Peterson with JP Morgan. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Speaker #4: Hey, good morning, team. Congrats on the quarter and thanks for taking my questions. I'd like to unpack the shipment guide in four queue. You're still planning on being towards the high end of the range, which would be like 10% year-on-year growth.

Speaker #4: But I guess if you ran it through, it would imply around down 10% quarter on quarter, which would be more like 20, 21, 2022 as compared to the last few years, which were below that in terms of seasonality.

Speaker #4: I believe you have two less shipping days. Are you taking into account other things like holidays and maybe you can characterize how much downtime you're expecting?

Speaker #4: We're just trying to get a sense can it be upside to this number?

Speaker #2: Yeah. Hey, Bill, it's Jack. All good questions. You're right. We do have two fewer fiscal days in Q4 compared to Q3, 89 versus 91.

Speaker #2: But also to your point, there are four additional non-shipping days, really just due to Q4 holidays when you think of Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, a few days around Christmas Eve, and New Year's.

Speaker #2: So in aggregate, you're talking five or six fewer days of shipping compared to the prior quarter. Plus the added risk of some winter weather in certain regions.

Speaker #2: Q4 planned outages, I just mentioned some of those outages are at our largest mills. And so planned downtime relative to Q3 actually has a few more days.

Speaker #2: So keep that in mind. But I think it's also important to recognize we're coming into Q4 off of record high Q3 shipment quarter. So I think sometimes it's easier to ship through outage season during softer markets, a little bit harder to do so when the mills are already operating at such a high level.

Speaker #2: There's just less slack in the system. But I think if you looked historically, quarterly shipments, Q3 to Q4 have trended down about 7%. And so that may be a useful planning assumption as you're looking to fine-tune your models.

Speaker #2: I think the silver lining here, though, Bill, is we've guided you to steel mills earnings having relatively flat quarter over quarter and really that's just for all the obvious reasons, we're going to see some volume softness due to seasonality and the outages.

Speaker #2: But stronger pricing outlook sort of neutralizes that impact. Rest assured, our goal is to ship every ton possible.

Speaker #4: Yeah. No, that's a perfect color. Thanks for that. Earlier, I think you said that your data center was something around 15%. I'm not sure if that's a mill statement or a product statement, but I'm trying to get a sense for how big that opportunity I guess is for you as we think about 2026 and do you expect that to grow?

Speaker #4: And then the second one you called out was the border wall and you characterized it as tons per mile. I was trying to figure out how much border wall needs to get built, but I'd like to get a sense too on how you see the border wall opportunity this year and also for next year.

Speaker #4: Would you expect that to grow again?

Speaker #5: Yeah. Bill, I'll touch on if you can remember now, I got the second part of your question. The first part was on data centers, right?

Speaker #5: Look, if we step back, most of the forecasting analysts are talking massive numbers. Multi-trillion dollars' worth of spend over the next five, six, seven years.

Speaker #5: And so Nucor's entrance into this isn't like weeks or months old. This is something going back two or three years that we had been, again, readying ourselves to be where the puck's going to be at.

Speaker #5: And so today, with the acquisitions of Southwest Data products, our Nucor warehouse systems are capability set in our buildings, plates, structural tube group, all are now combining where today Nucor can make or supply roughly 95% of all the steel required inside of and outside of a data center today.

Speaker #5: So we're really, really capable of providing most of what the hyperscalers need today. Our relationship build with them over the last four, five, six years has been incredible.

Speaker #5: There's a high level of trust there. We earn a lot of that business. And so to your question, do we anticipate that growing into 2027?

Speaker #5: Yes. And again, as we think about growth and fueling Nucor's expand beyond growth, you can expect that some of those areas of growth will be in that space.

Speaker #5: And the continued build-out of our data center offering to our customers. As we get to the border wall, I'll ask John Hollett maybe to comment on that.

Speaker #5: It's been a lightning rod for us. And again, another end market that we've been really very well prepared and capable to supply that need.

Speaker #5: But John, maybe giving some framing around the volumes.

Speaker #2: Yeah. Hey, Bill, on the border wall, we estimate there's about 1,400 miles of new wall to be built. That's primary and secondary wall. And there's around 1,500 tons of steel in there per mile.

Speaker #2: And we have been shipping thousands of tons every week to the border. You can see it in the increased volumes in our tubular group.

Speaker #2: And that's going to continue all the way through 2027 and well into 2028. And again, we're the only company with the raw materials sheet supply, the tube capacity, and the logistics team to keep up with the demand.

Speaker #2: For the border and for the tube group, it's not just border. On top of that, you've got a really strong demand for structural and the HSS side.

Speaker #2: We're seeing incredible performance from our conduit team, our sprinkler pipe team is having a great year. And all of that has played a role in leading to our steel products group having the best quarter on the earnings side that we've had since the beginning of 2024.

Speaker #2: So we see a really good outlook well past the end of '26 and into '27 for the border fence.

Speaker #4: Appreciate the color, Tyson. Congrats again.

Speaker #5: Thank you, Bill.

Speaker #1: Your next question comes from the line of lost and winder, with BOFA securities. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Speaker #6: Thank you, operator. Good morning, John, Steve, and Jack. Nice results. Thank you for today's update. If I could ask on your comments around merchant bar, could you just discuss a bit more as to what end markets are primarily driving that?

Speaker #6: And then how do the market dynamics vary regionally on merchant bar? And then is there any merchant bar replacement of rebar capacity at the current moment or to any extent at all?

Speaker #5: Say that last part of your question again, Lawson.

Speaker #6: Just in terms of the strength in shipments from merchant bar, is that causing any displacement of rebar shipping capacity?

Speaker #2: Okay. Look, I'm

Speaker #5: going to ask Randy Spicer. To jump in on this, but just a bit of framing. Our rebar strategy and our that end market has been incredibly strong for us.

Speaker #5: Our longest product groups are some of the most profitable and have been through the entire cycle. There's a lot of questions, right, of the flattening of this cost curve.

Speaker #5: But our ability to maintain margins or our ability and how our teams executed and remaining the low-cost producer building these facilities where there's a high level of scrap inventory as well as the customers that are in proximity gives unique Nucor, unique differentiated advantage in this marketplace.

Speaker #5: And quite frankly, ADC is growing. And so again, I remain very optimistic knowing that there's some competitors coming into the space. And that will continue.

Speaker #5: But look, we've been in this business for 60 years now. We know this market incredibly well. Our teams are executing at a high level.

Speaker #5: But Randy, why don't you share a little more on what we're doing with merchant bar in particular in that growth?

Speaker #6: Yeah. Thanks, Leon. Lawson, thank you for the question. Yeah, certainly seeing tremendous growth in both, quite frankly, merchant and rebar as evidenced by the record shipments that we've seen that's in place.

Speaker #6: What I would tell you specifically around merchant bar is it's got exposure to some of the highest markets that we've seen right now, specifically as Leon had just talked about, data centers.

Speaker #6: We're in the middle of what we call the AI Super Bowl, the hyperscalers committed enormous amount of capital to these data center build-outs. And those structures require these larger sections that we're able to produce at Nucor.

Speaker #6: And that's showing up directly in our order book. As you can look and see, we're at record levels to be able to take advantage of both here in '26 as well as a growth as we go forward into '27.

Speaker #6: With that, you're also spot on of, as you see the margins increase in that space, you're also seeing some of the rebar producers are out there, right, that are capable of making flexible products of which Nucor is one of the largest in that space that you're actually able to move into the merchant bar space as well.

Speaker #6: So with that growth, we've continued to see strong performance. And we would expect to see that as we go forward into future years. Okay.

Speaker #6: That's very helpful. And then maybe just put a finer point on my last question. I mean, given the way your capacity is kind of set up between Tank T and Missouri, is there some displacement of rebar as a result of that merchant bar capacity?

Speaker #6: I.e., is the rebar market in the U.S. getting tighter as a result of what you're seeing in merchant bar?

Speaker #5: Well, look, you're seeing ADC actually grow. If you look back a year or two, it was roughly 9, 9 and a half million tons we're predicting that to be upwards of 10 and a half or possibly 11.

Speaker #5: And so the market is growing. And so that's just booms very well again for our capability set. And we're going. But very specifically to your displacement question, one of the unique advantages and what Randy and his groups have done again, this is over years.

Speaker #5: When we cross proof in Sedalia and our first two micro mills, we looked at the overall mix and how do we supply that. We took Darlington from rebar and some MBQ into no more rebar in all MBQ and how higher and SBQ.

Speaker #5: And why are rod? And so Darlington's capabilities is expanded tremendously. Can't get keys investment in their growth. And they've moved out of a lot of rebar into heavy MBQ and beyond.

Speaker #5: And so again, the breadth of our footprint enables us to shift and modify where we meet the geographic needs and the capability sets that, again, our customers need from us.

Speaker #5: And the regions where we're located. So yeah, there's been a lot of that that's happened, Lawson, over the last five, six, seven years. That really kind of catapulted with the investment of the rod mill at Darlington.

Speaker #5: And now continues on.

Speaker #6: Fantastic. As always, I appreciate the color very much.

Speaker #5: Thank you, Lawson.

Speaker #1: Your next question comes from the line of Tristan Gresser with BNP Prabha. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Speaker #4: Yes. Hi. Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. I have two first one is on your auto strategy. You had a slide in your presentation and I think a couple of years ago you mentioned you go to double auto shipments.

Speaker #4: So could you provide maybe an update, tonnage-wise, how much you expect to achieve this year and the next? Also, I was curious if you're I don't think you've done this in the past, but are you entering into annual contracts with OEMs?

Speaker #4: Do you have everything you need from raw material standpoint or you need to make some adjustments? And lastly, from a quality perspective, it would be interesting to have your view if you're confident that you can fully replicate the products that customer usually get from integrated producer.

Speaker #4: I leave it there.

Speaker #5: Tristan, I'm going to go ahead and jump in here and while I'm going to tell you Noah Hanners will answer the question in a minute, I may not leave him anything to answer.

Speaker #5: Because I really appreciate the question and I want to fully blow apart any notion that EAFs do not have the technical and quality capabilities to provide and make expose automotive panels.

Speaker #5: It has been the last bastion of the integrated competition and the only thing they have left to think about it. Left in America, there's not a single integrated producer making a long product in America.

Speaker #5: All EAFs do all of that today. So the last piece of that pie has been the expose automotive panels. And I'm really pleased to report on behalf of Noah and the entire Sheikh Group that Nucor has been awarded an entire platform with General Motors for expose automotive sheet.

Speaker #5: And you're going to couple that work, that time, that effort, those resources, the process engineering and process and quality control, the PPAPs, all that work is now shifting into West Virginia.

Speaker #5: So as they begin ramping up, that mill will produce 30% automotive steels capable of making the highest end. So you can fully dismantle any notion that the EAF producers cannot make the most complex high-quality and expose pieces of that vehicle.

Speaker #5: It's over. We're on it. We're doing it. And we're going to continue to do and we're going to continue to take that market share away from the integrated producers.

Speaker #5: Period. Full stop. So know anything to add on that. I'll leave the rest of you.

Speaker #6: I love Leon's energy around this because he's so proud of what our team has accomplished. And we can produce the full suite of what auto demands from us.

Speaker #6: And I'll tell you, our customers are pumped about doing more business with us. And the capabilities that we're bringing to the market are perfectly timed for meeting their demands.

Speaker #6: I mean, you talk about West Virginia, the first phase of West Virginia is largely volume improving the mill. And then we get out into 2028 and that's when we'll start to put auto tons through qualifications on West Virginia.

Speaker #6: So it's coming soon. The second thing is that Berkeley, we already do a lot of auto out of Berkeley. They were the substrate mill for that qualification, Leon just mentioned.

Speaker #6: They just galvanized their first coil on the new galvaline last week. Awesome accomplishment from that team. On time, on budget. And we're just really well positioned to take substantial share in the automotive market, continue to grow, exercise our capabilities there.

Speaker #6: We're at about 10% this year. We'll do about a million tons at West Virginia as we're ramped up there. Significant portion of that, probably 10%, goes into auto exposed.

Speaker #6: So awesome. Awesome story about our growth in automotive. Really proud of our team.

Speaker #3: And the other thing I'd add there, Noah, on automotive, I think a big testament goes to the amount of time and energy and frankly patience it's taken our team and our investors on helping us along this journey.

Speaker #3: As Leon mentioned, we are now on a platform. Aspirationally, we'd like to get a bigger chunk of that platform, but starting out with certain parts and look forward to continuing to chip away at that.

Speaker #1: Your next question comes from the line of Matt Dushkin with Wells Fargo. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Your next question comes from the line of Richard Garchitarena with Barclays.

Speaker #1: Your line is open. Please go ahead. All right, team. It looks like we're having a bit of technical difficulty with these last two questions here.

Speaker #1: It appears our conference room has dropped. So in order to get these last two questions up, we will need to end this event and restart this broadcast.

Speaker #5: So Caleb, why don't we why don't we wrap here and then Jack and his IRR team can reach out accordingly to Richard and the other gentlemen to answer their question.

Speaker #1: Okay. Yeah. The only thing we won't have the closing remarks on the broadcast, we'll have to add those in separately.

Speaker #5: I do that live right now anyway. So we're ready to wrap up. Caleb.

Speaker #1: Okay. Unfortunately, because the conference room has dropped, there're not able to hear your closing remarks. So if we just.

Speaker #5: How quickly can we restart it?

Speaker #1: We can do it pretty quick here. I will end the broadcast and the event. We'll just have to call back in and you'll have to ask your analysts to redial back.

All right, so how can how quickly can we restart it? Uh, we can do it pretty quick here. I will end the broadcast and the event will just have to call back in and you'll have to ask your analysts to Redial back.

Okay, okay, great. Thank you.

Leon Topalian: Well, it's the first platform we've been given. We've been in the automotive space for more than 10 years, right? So we've learned and worked with the major OEMs in this country for a long time, not just GM, but Ford and BMW and Mercedes and many others. I'll let Noah speak more to that. Look, with General Motors, we've had a great relationship. We're six-time recipient of the Supplier of the Year award with them, so we understand their needs. We've worked closely with them. Our engineers, metallurgists, and commercial teams have built incredible relationships. Our technical teams in Detroit provide an incredible avenue for those OEMs to understand how we're doing it and for us to link in those TPAS and process control side to have that full offering.

Story. Well, it's the first platform we've been given, we've been in the automotive space for more than 10 years, right? So, we've learned in worked with the major oems and this kind of

For a long time. Not just GM but Ford and BMW and Mercedes and many others. And I'll let Noah speak more to that. But look with General Motors, we've had a great relationship with, you know, 6 time recipient of the, um, supplier of the Year Award with them. And so we, we understand their needs. We've worked closely with them. Our engineers metallurgist and and Commercial teams have built, incredible relationships, our technical teams and Detroit, uh, provide an incredible, um, Avenue for those oems to understand how we're doing it and for us to link in those P. Passive process control side to have that full offering and so, you know, no, I'll, I'll let you answer maybe. And if you want to add any more detail to the commercial and how we're thinking about that, I just wanted to provide the backdrop that these are not new orders or new customers for us. It's a new platform new grades but not not new relationships. Yeah, and thanks for the question Matt. Sorry, I missed my

Leon Topalian: We've worked closely with them. Our engineers, metallurgists, and commercial teams have built incredible relationships. Our technical teams in Detroit provide an incredible avenue for those OEMs to understand how we're doing it and for us to link in those TPAS and process control side to have that full offering.

Leon Topalian: Noah, I'll let you answer maybe if you want to add any more detail to the commercial and how we're thinking about that. I just wanted to provide the backdrop that these are not new orders or new customers for us. It's a new platform, new grades, but not new relationships.

Noah Hanners: Yeah, thanks for the question, Matt. Sorry you missed my answer the first time. I assure you it was brilliant. To give you some more color, I guess, specifically to the contract side, it's one thing to have the capabilities, and we're at a point where we're very confident in our capabilities. It's built on decades of work by our team to learn how to make the grades and meet our customers' requirements, and this proof of our ability to get on platform that we talked about here is really a testament to that. Getting set up contractually and qualified takes a number of years.

For the first time I assure you it was it was brilliant but to give you some more more caller, I guess specifically to the contract side. You know it's 1 thing to have the capabilities and and we're at a point where we're very confident in our capabilities. It's built on Decades of work by our team, to, to learn how to make the grades and and meet our customers requirements. And this proof of our uh ability to get on platform. That that we talked about here is is really a testament to that but but then getting um

Noah Hanners: It's built on decades of work by our team to learn how to make the grades and meet our customers' requirements, and this proof of our ability to get on platform that we talked about here is really a testament to that. Getting set up contractually and qualified takes a number of years.

Noah Hanners: We have a leg up on our growth because we have an auto exposed galv line in Mexico, where we do extensive automotive of a variety of different grades that will match up nicely with the suite of capabilities at Berkeley and at West Virginia. We have a broad book of capabilities and qualifications that we've worked through. So our team is very experienced with the qualification process, and we're able to lean into those qualifications at some of our other locations to really set West Virginia up for success. West Virginia's, by volume, our biggest growth opportunity for automotive. We'll do 1 million tons of automotive out of West Virginia. About 100,000 of that will eventually be auto exposed. So we're able to lean into that know-how across our team and those other resources to start to fast-track those qualifications.

Set up contractually and qualified takes a number of years and and we have a leg up on our growth because we have an auto exposed guideline in Mexico. Where we where we do extensive Automotive of variety of different grades that will match up nicely with the suite of capabilities of Berkeley and it and at West Virginia and then we have a broad book of capabilities and qualifications that we've worked through. So our team is very experienced with the with the the the qualification process and we're able to lean into those qualifications at some of our other locations to really set West Virginia up for Success West Virginia's. You know, by volume are are are biggest growth opportunity for automotive. We'll do a million tons of Automotive out of West Virginia about 100,000 of that will eventually be, um, Auto exposed. So we're able to lean into the that know-how across our team and those other resources to, to start to Fastrac this qualifications.

Noah Hanners: So our team is very experienced with the qualification process, and we're able to lean into those qualifications at some of our other locations to really set West Virginia up for success. West Virginia's, by volume, our biggest growth opportunity for automotive. We'll do 1 million tons of automotive out of West Virginia. About 100,000 of that will eventually be auto exposed. So we're able to lean into that know-how across our team and those other resources to start to fast-track those qualifications.

[Analyst] (Wells Fargo): Well, I think the answer was probably even better the second time, but I appreciate all the color, guys. Thanks for the time.

[Analyst]: Well, I think the answer was probably even better the second time, but I appreciate all the color, guys. Thanks for the time.

All right, well, I think the answer is probably even better the second time, but I appreciate all the color, guys. Uh,

Thanks for the time.

Leon Topalian: Thanks, Matt.

Thanks Matt.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Richard Garchitorena with Barclays. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Your next question comes from the line of Richard Garcia with Barkley's. Your line is open, please go ahead.

Richard Garchitorena: Good morning, and thanks for opening up again to my question. If I could just ask quickly, in terms of pricing, obviously the market has been able to withstand pricing moving higher. Can you provide some color in terms of what you hear from customers? When it comes to fixed price contracts resetting next year, how should we think about that impacting your results?

Good morning and thanks for opening up again into my question. Um, if I could just ask quickly in terms of pricing, obviously the market has

Uh, been able to withstand pricing, um, moving higher. Uh, can you provide some color in terms of

What you're hearing from customers. Um, and, you know, when it comes to fixed price contracts, resetting next year, how should we think about that? Um, you know, impacting, uh, your results? That's

Leon Topalian: Richard, I want to make sure I understand the question. Are you asking how pricing in the structural side moving into 2027 is impacting our customers?

Sure, I want to make sure I understand the question. Are you asking how

Pricing in the structural side and moving into 27 is impacting our customers.

Richard Garchitorena: No. Contracts.

Richard Garchitorena: No. I was just curious during the color on the market. Yeah, how the market-

Richard Garchitorena: I was just curious during the color on the market. Yeah, how the market-

No control on the market.

Noah Hanners: Hey, Richard. This is Noah. Let me just step in and talk maybe about where we are with our sheet contracts and how we have worked through resetting those contracts as we step into 2027. We come into this market, you have heard the demand drivers we have talked about, really robust demand picture across the sheet group and an expectation of continued growth in demand. Now we are bringing these new capabilities to the fold as well. So West Virginia will start to come online. Berkeley, Indiana just painted their first coil. So our goal through contract season is to match up these new capabilities and this really strong demand picture to meet the needs, especially our long-term customers. We have never been, I would tell you, more deliberate about that plan. We have a strategy that feels good because it is very coherent across our mills.

Hey Richard, this is Noah. Let me let me just step in and talk. Maybe about about where we are with um our sheet contracts and how we've how we've how we work through. Resetting this contract as we step into 2027 and you know we come into this Market, you've heard from the band drivers. We've talked about really robust, demand picture um across the the sheet group and an expectation of continued growth and demand. And then we're bringing these new capabilities to the to the fold as well. So West Virginia will start to come online Berkeley. Um, Indiana just painted their first coil. Um, so our our goal through contract season is to match up these new capabilities and these really

Yeah.

Noah Hanners: Now we are bringing these new capabilities to the fold as well. So West Virginia will start to come online. Berkeley, Indiana just painted their first coil. So our goal through contract season is to match up these new capabilities and this really strong demand picture to meet the needs, especially our long-term customers. We have never been, I would tell you, more deliberate about that plan. We have a strategy that feels good because it is very coherent across our mills.

Strong. It's really strong demand picture to to meet the needs of the special. Our long-term, a long-term customers.

Noah Hanners: Some mills are going to have to give up volume to get West Virginia online. They are able to go out, and we are able to back those replacement tons up contractually. I think we have a very coherent plan in the face of a lot of strong demand picture out there. To maybe talk about the terms, we are not going to get into specifics, but they are significantly better as we step into 2027. We have improved the overall quality of the agreements, lower discounts, higher extras, and our volume variances are tighter than they were in 2026. If you look back historically, we have been about 80% to 85% contracted. We will be a little heavier than that this year. Overall, I think our commercial team has done an outstanding job positioning us for 2027.

Noah Hanners: We have improved the overall quality of the agreements, lower discounts, higher extras, and our volume variances are tighter than they were in 2026. If you look back historically, we have been about 80% to 85% contracted. We will be a little heavier than that this year. Overall, I think our commercial team has done an outstanding job positioning us for 2027.

As we step into 2027, we've improved the overall quality of the agreements, uh, lower discounts higher extras and and our volume variances are tighter than they were in in 2026. If you look back, historically, we've been about 80 to 85%. Uh, contracted will will be a little heavier than that this year. Um, and overall, I think our, our commercial teams done an outstanding job position us for 2027.

Steve Laxton: Tristan, you had also asked about the composition of our contracts that are fixed that may be resetting at a different price as we go into 2027. Nucor really does not have a very large percentage of contracts that are fixed.

And Tristan, you would also asked about um, the composition of our contracts that are fixed. That may be resetting at a different price as we go into 2027 new core. Really doesn't have a very large percentage of contracts that are fixed. Yeah, the majority of our fixed are going to be in in Auto and I I would call that just Loosely 5 to maybe it's 7% of our fixed contracts. But but the majority will reset at your end, right? That's 5 to 7% of the sheet of sheet. Thank you, thank you.

Noah Hanners: Yeah, the majority of our fixed are going to be in auto, and I would call that just loosely 5% to maybe 7% of our fixed contracts. But the majority will reset at year end.

Richard Garchitorena: Right.

Leon Topalian: It is 5% to 7% of sheet.

Noah Hanners: of sheet.

Richard Garchitorena: All right. Thank you.

John Hollatz: very low, low single-digit percentage of sheet overall.

Very low, low single digit percentage of sheet overall.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Tristan Gresser with BNP Paribas. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Your next question comes from the line of Tristan Greer with BNP paraba. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Tristan Gresser: Yes, hi. It is me again. Sorry, I got disconnected, and thank you for your answer. I just have another question on the strong performance of the steel products division. If you could dive a little bit into that, the main driver behind it, maybe the contribution of towers, panels, doors, anything standing out or anything really behind the strong performance. Also, when we look past that, looking into Q4 and Q1 next year, should we expect some similar scale of ASP increase, or would you expect some moderation of that? Even with lower volumes, how do you think about margins? Are they going to continue to expand every quarter, or are you going to feel a bit of pressure from those higher substrate costs in general?

Yes, I it's me again. Sorry, I got disconnected. And thank you for for your answer. I just have another question on, uh, the strong performance of the steel products division. If you could dive a little bit into that the the main driver behind it. Maybe the the contribution of um Towers uh panels uh doors, uh, anything standing out or anything really behind the, the strong performance. And also when

Tristan Gresser: Also, when we look past that, looking into Q4 and Q1 next year, should we expect some similar scale of ASP increase, or would you expect some moderation of that? Even with lower volumes, how do you think about margins? Are they going to continue to expand every quarter, or are you going to feel a bit of pressure from those higher substrate costs in general?

We look past that looking into Q4 and q1 next year. Should we expect some?

Similar scale of ASP increase or uh would you expect some some moderation of that and even with lower volumes? Um how you how do you think about margins? Uh are they going to continue to expand every quarter or you're going to feel a bit? The pressure from those higher substrate costs in in general?

Leon Topalian: Well, look, that is a lot to unpack here, and I am going to let John Hollatz take most of it. But look, as we sort of answered earlier as well, Tristan, as we came out of 2025 into 2026, the demand environment has continued to become more and more and more robust. With that, pricing is flowing through the enterprise as well. So you are seeing higher realized pricing in our downstream products groups that are now hitting the balance sheet and will continue to do so well into 2027. Again, at a very high level, the products group now in Nucor is such a wide and diverse set of businesses and generates great returns. But again, there is a lot of different business segments in that.

Well, look, that's a lot to unpack here. And I'm going to let, uh, John Howard's, take most of it, but look, as we sort of answered earlier as well. Tristan, um,

You know, as we came out of 25, uh, into 26, the demand environment has continued to, to become more and more and more robust. And with that pricing is flowing through the the Enterprises as well. So you're seeing uh higher realized pricing in our Downstream products groups that are now hitting uh the balance sheet and we'll continue to do so well in the

Leon Topalian: So you are seeing higher realized pricing in our downstream products groups that are now hitting the balance sheet and will continue to do so well into 2027. Again, at a very high level, the products group now in Nucor is such a wide and diverse set of businesses and generates great returns. But again, there is a lot of different business segments in that. John, why don't you just walk through, to Tristan's question, some of those highlights and what we are most excited about as we head into 2027?

2027, uh, I, you know, again at a very high level, man, the, the products group. Now in New core is, is such a wide and diverse set of businesses and, um, generates great returns. But again, there's there there's a lot of different, um, business segments in that. So John, why don't you just walk through, uh, you know, to Tristan's question? Some of those highlights and what, uh, we're most excited about as we head into 27. Yeah, Tristan, I appreciate that question. And the recognition that our steel products earnings were the best earnings in Q3 that we've had since the beginning of of 2024. And this is not just 1 specific product. This is a variety of of different products that are contributing to this. We talked earlier about the, the tubular group and their performance related to border wall overall construction on on the bullcrap, joist and deck side. We had noted previously that we were seeing higher prices in New order entry.

Leon Topalian: John, why don't you just walk through, to Tristan's question, some of those highlights and what we are most excited about as we head into 2027?

John Hollatz: Yeah. Tristan, I appreciate that question and the recognition that our steel products earnings were the best earnings in Q3 that we have had since the beginning of 2024. This is not just one specific product. This is a variety of different products that are contributing to this. We talked earlier about the tubular group and their performance related to border wall, overall construction. On the Vulcraft joist and deck side, we had noted previously that we were seeing higher prices in new order entry, and that is now being realized in our earnings. New orders continue to exceed our current backlog pricing, and that backlog carries us well into 2027. It was mentioned earlier, our buildings group and their participation in the data center market, they had a really strong Q3. It is setting the stage for a great year in 2027.

John Hollatz: On the Vulcraft joist and deck side, we had noted previously that we were seeing higher prices in new order entry, and that is now being realized in our earnings. New orders continue to exceed our current backlog pricing, and that backlog carries us well into 2027. It was mentioned earlier, our buildings group and their participation in the data center market, they had a really strong Q3. It is setting the stage for a great year in 2027.

and that is now being realized in our earnings and new orders can continue to exceed, our current backlog pricing,

and that backlog carries us well into 2027. Uh, it was mentioned earlier, our buildings group and their participation in the, the data construct or data, uh, Center Market. They had a really strong third quarter. It's set in the stage for a great year in 2027. And again, we're

John Hollatz: We are the only company, as Steve mentioned, that has the ability to support data centers through conventional construction with joist and deck and structural steel, or the alternative of supplying a pre-engineered metal building. I also want to recognize our insulated panel group, one of our Expand Beyond businesses, that had record earnings in Q3, and that again will carry us well into 2027. Overall, our backlogs are up about 25%. Pricing continues to improve, and we are going to have a good Q4 and a really strong 2027.

We're the only company.

Leon Topalian: Maybe the other thing too, and you mentioned it, Tristan, but look, we are excited. We love our door business. We love what C.H.I. and Rytec are doing. But think about the build-out, what we have done in towers, right? We have been pretty public that we made some wrongs in the M&A side that didn't work out. We love the space and have for a lot of years, so we made the decision a couple years ago that we are going to do it organically. We bought a small company in Summit to kind of begin and get some in-house knowledge that now has expanded to three greenfield towers plants, two of which are online, and the third that will be up and running by mid-next year. But think about what, and I think it was Steve's opening comments, that team has already qualified at 30 different utilities.

And maybe the other thing too and you you mentioned that Tristan but look, we're we're excited. I we love our door business. We love what Chi and ride Tech are doing. Um, but think about the build out what we've done in Towers, right? We we we've been pretty public that we made some runs in the m&a side that didn't work out we love the space and have for a lot of years and so we made the decision a couple years ago that we're going to do an organically, we bought a small company in Summit to kind of begin and get some in-house knowledge and now it's expanded to 3 Green Field Towers plants to of which are online and the third that will be up and running by mid next year. But think about what and I think it was Steve's opening comments. We've that team has already qualified at 30 different utilities. So not unlike the robust excitement and demand picture from oems into the sheet group, to provide the higher end in automotive of exposed grades. We're finding and feeling the very same, um, relationship build

Leon Topalian: We love the space and have for a lot of years, so we made the decision a couple years ago that we are going to do it organically. We bought a small company in Summit to kind of begin and get some in-house knowledge that now has expanded to three greenfield towers plants, two of which are online, and the third that will be up and running by mid-next year. But think about what, and I think it was Steve's opening comments, that team has already qualified at 30 different utilities.

Leon Topalian: So not unlike the robust excitement and demand picture from OEMs into the sheet group to provide the higher end in auto exposed grades, we are finding and feeling the very same relationship build and networking within the utility side to grow that space. The order books are getting filled very, very quickly. Again, it is a space that not only do we feel really well-poised to provide, but the build-out of those facilities is so automated, we truly believe we are going to have a significant cost advantage in a differentiated position in that market. Again, I am really proud of what the downstream products groups teams are doing across the board and including the Expand Beyond businesses. So appreciate the question, Tristan.

And networking, within the Utility side, to grow that space. And so the order books are um, getting filled very, very quickly and again, it's the, uh, it it's a space. That not only are do, we feel really well poised to provide, but the buildout of those facilities is so automated, we truly believe, we're going to have a cost significant cost Advantage uh, in a differentiated uh, position in that market. So again, I'm I'm really proud of what the the downstream products group.

Leon Topalian: Again, it is a space that not only do we feel really well-poised to provide, but the build-out of those facilities is so automated, we truly believe we are going to have a significant cost advantage in a differentiated position in that market. Again, I am really proud of what the downstream products groups teams are doing across the board and including the Expand Beyond businesses. So appreciate the question, Tristan.

Teams are doing across the board and including these span Beyond businesses. So, appreciate the question, Tristan,

Tristan Gresser: All right. Very clear. Thank you.

All right, very good. Thank you.

Leon Topalian: Thanks.

Operator: This concludes our Q&A portion. I will now turn the call back to Leon Topalian, Chair and CEO, for closing remarks.

Thanks.

This concludes our Q&A portion. I will now turn the call back to Leon to palian. Chair and CEO for closing remarks,

Leon Topalian: Well, team, as we close, I want to thank our 33,000 teammates for another strong quarter and for your continued unwavering commitment to our most important value, the health, safety, and well-being of every one of our team members. Thank you to our customers for the trust you place in us with each and every order. We want to continue to work hard and earn your business every day. Lastly, to our shareholders, thank you for trusting us with your valuable shareholder capital. 2026 is shaping up to be a really, really good year, and we believe 2027 will be even stronger. Our best days are definitely in front of us. Thank you for your interest in Nucor, and have a great day.

Well, team as we close, I want to thank our 33,000 teammates for another strong quarter, and for your continued, unwavering commitment to our most important value, the health safety, and well-being, of every 1 of our team members. Thank you to our customers for the place, trust you place in us with each. And every order we want to continue to work hard and earn your business every day and allows me to our shareholders. Thank you for trusting us for your valuable shareholder. Capital 26 is shaping up to be a really really good year and we believe 27 will be even stronger. Our best days are definitely in front of us. Thank you for your interest in Newport and have a great day.

Leon Topalian: We want to continue to work hard and earn your business every day. Lastly, to our shareholders, thank you for trusting us with your valuable shareholder capital. 2026 is shaping up to be a really, really good year, and we believe 2027 will be even stronger. Our best days are definitely in front of us. Thank you for your interest in Nucor, and have a great day.

Operator: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.

This concludes today's call, thank you for attending. You may now disconnect