Nucor's Competitiveness
A competitive positioning analysis and financial ratio benchmarking of Nucor (NUE) against its publicly traded competitors: sales growth, net income, profitability, valuation and market share, plus each peer's market capitalization, revenue, income and employees. Free below: the top 5 peers. Subscriber access adds the full competitor list and CSV downloads.
Key Findings: Nucor vs Its Competitors
- TTM: Trailing 12-month revenue of 36,101M vs 113,537M combined for tracked competitors (24.1% combined share).
- Trending: Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is accelerating (+15.2% annualized vs trailing 12 months), vs accelerating (+15.9%) for its tracked peer group.
- Growth: Nucor generated 23.0% revenue growth year over year in Q2 2026, vs 24.4% for its tracked competitors combined.
- Profitability: Its 12.3% net margin compares with 7.7% for the peer group.
- Scale: Nucor ranks #1 of 30 companies by market capitalization in the Iron & Steel industry, holding 18.9% of industry market cap.
- Peer revenue share: Nucor accounted for 24.0% of combined revenue among its tracked peer group, down from 24.2% a year earlier.
- Peer differentiation: Revenue per employee of $1.09M compares with $1.31M for the peer group (0.8x).
Every figure above is sourced and cited in detail further down this page (Market Structure, Profitability & Cost Structure, Productivity vs Peers).
NUE Sales vs. its Competitors, Q2 2026
Nucor reported revenue growth of 22.95 % year on year in Q2 2026, below its competitors' combined revenue growth of 24.42 %.
With a net margin of 12.31 %, Nucor achieved higher profitability than its competitors (7.71 %).
Nucor generated 24.01 % of the combined sales of its peer group, down from 24.23 % a year earlier.
Nucor vs. its Competitors, Q2 2026
Revenue growth, year on year
Net income growth, year on year
Net margin
Revenue run-rate vs trailing 12 months
TTM net margin
TTM = trailing twelve months. Run-rate annualizes the latest quarter (×4) and compares it to TTM. In millions of $. High-Confidence Competitors are named as a competitor directly in an SEC filing; Similar-Size Competitors are the closest peers by market-cap rank within the same industry; Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors are the closest peers by combined revenue growth, operating margin and ROIC, all independent of the competitor list.
TTM revenue, latest-quarter run-rate and net income/margin benchmarked across Nucor and its 4 competitor groupings. Available under Commercial License.
| Entity | TTM Revenue | Rev Run-rate vs TTM |
|---|---|---|
| Nucor Corporation | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| Competitors combined | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| High-Confidence Competitors (5) | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| Similar-Size Competitors (2) | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
TTM revenue, run-rate and net margin benchmarking across Nucor's competitor groups requires a Commercial License.
For context: the Iron & Steel industry grew revenue 0.0% year over year, combined, vs 23.0% for Nucor. Nucor's share of combined industry revenue moved from 3.80% to 4.68%, a gain of 0.87 percentage points.
Nucor's Competitor Quality Breadth
Share of each group, trailing 12 months: profitable (net margin > 0), expanding (revenue growth > 0), growing faster than the industry's own median, and financially distressed (Piotroski F-Score of 2 or below).
| Entity | Profitable | Expanding | Above Industry Growth | Distressed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nucor Corporation | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Competitors combined (26) | ||||
| High-Confidence Competitors (8) | ||||
| Similar-Size Competitors (5) |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Altman Z-Score is not shown here: it is not populated in the underlying data for any company. Percentages are of companies in each group that report the relevant metric, not of the full group size.
NUE Stock Performance relative to its Competitors
NUE Stock Performance relative to High-Confidence Competitors
NUE Stock Performance relative to Similar-Size Competitors
5 Best-Performing Tracked Competitors, Trailing 12 Months
| # | Competitor | TTM Share Price Return | vs U.S.A. 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ati Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 2 | Materion Corporation | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 3 | Kaiser Aluminum Corporation | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 4 | Arcelormittal | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 5 | Steel Dynamics Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
TTM share price return and U.S.A. 500 outperformance for Nucor's best-performing tracked competitors requires a Commercial License.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months.
Nucor's Comment on Competition and Industry Peers
We compete in a variety of steel and metal markets, including markets for finished
steel products, unfinished steel products and raw materials. These markets are
highly competitive with many domestic and foreign firms participating, and,
as a result of this highly competitive environment, we find that we primarily
compete on price and service.
Our electric arc furnace steel mills face many different forms of competition,
including integrated steel producers (who use iron ore converted into liquid
form in a blast furnace as their basic raw material instead of scrap steel),
other electric arc furnace mills, foreign imports and alternative materials.
Large integrated steel producers have the ability to manufacture a wide variety
of products but face significantly higher energy costs and are often burdened
with higher capital and fixed operating costs. Electric arc furnace mill producers
such as Nucor are sensitive to increases in scrap prices but tend to have lower
capital and fixed operating costs compared with integrated steel producers.
Competition from foreign steel and steel product producers presents unique
challenges for us. Imported steel and steel products often benefit from government
subsidies, either directly or indirectly through government-owned enterprises
or government-owned or controlled financial institutions. In particular, competition
from steel imported from China, which accounts for more than 45% of the steel
produced annually in the world, is a major challenge. We believe that Chinese
producers, many of whom are government-owned in whole or in part, benefit from
their government’s manipulation of foreign currency exchange rates and
from the receipt of government subsidies, which allow them to sell their products
below cost. These distorting trade practices are widely recognized as being
unfair and have been challenged successfully as violating world trade rules.
Examples of successful challenges include the imposition of antidumping duty
orders on imports of line pipe, oil country tubular goods, rebar, cut-to-length
plate and hot-rolled sheet from China.
China’s aggressive trade practices, left unchallenged, seriously undermine
the ability of Nucor and other domestic producers to compete on price. China’s
artificially lowered production costs have significantly contributed to the
exodus of manufacturing jobs from the United States. When such an exodus occurs,
the U.S. economy is weakened and Nucor’s customer base is diminished.
Rigorous trade law enforcement is critical to our ability to maintain our competitive
position against foreign producers that engage in unlawful trade practices.
Nucor has been active in calling on policymakers to enforce global trade agreements
and address the jobs crisis in the United States.
We also experience competition from other materials. Depending on our customers’
end use of our products, there are sometimes other materials, such as concrete,
aluminum, plastics, composites and wood that compete with our steel products.
When the price of steel relative to other raw materials rises, these alternatives
become more attractive to our customers.
Competition in our scrap and raw materials business is also vigorous. The scrap
metals market consists of many firms and is highly fragmented. Firms typically
compete on price and geographic proximity to the sources of scrap metal.
Publicly Traded Peers of Nucor Corporation
Revenue and income for trailing 12 months, in millions of $, except employees| Company | Market Cap | Revenues |
|---|---|---|
| Nucor Corporation | 55,865.97 | 36,101.00 |
| Arcelormittal | 53,505.10 | 61,352.00 |
| Steel Dynamics Inc | 33,312.32 | 20,538.68 |
| Ati Inc | 24,986.66 | 4,715.20 |
| Reliance Inc | 20,349.38 | 14,835.60 |
| Mueller Industries Inc | 13,486.08 | 4,661.14 |
| SUBTOTAL | 267,695.66 | 242,931.68 |
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Sources: Nucor Corporation's official press releases and regulatory filings; CSIMarket.com's market research; and the financial filings and press releases of the other companies cited.
Updated on:
Focus of this report: publicly traded companies. Ten additional tables on Nucor Corporation versus competitors, including market share analysis, are in the navigation menu under Competition. To download the tables, please subscribe.
Nucor's Competitors Named by the Company
Competitive relationships identified from SEC filings and corroborating sources, each with a basis and confidence.| Competitor | Basis | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Insteel Industries Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Metallus Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| JFE | Named by the company | 85% |
| Cornerstone | Named by the company | 85% |
| TMST | Named by the company | 85% |
| California Steel Industries, Inc. | Named by the company | 85% |
| Metl-S | Named by the company | 85% |
| Kingfish Holding Corporation | Named by the company | 85% |
| CSI | Named by the company | 85% |
| Cornerstone | Named by the company | 85% |
| Atkore Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| CENTRIA | Named by the company | 85% |
| Vale S.A. | Named by the company | 85% |
Filing basis, confidence, active dates and source counts for Nucor's named competitors require a Commercial License.
Methodology: relationships are extracted from SEC filings (named-competitor disclosures) and corroborating sources. Named by the company = explicitly disclosed as a competitor; Inferred = derived from corroborating signals. Confidence reflects evidence strength.
Nucor's Business Segment Mix vs Peers
Revenue by operating segment or division, as named and reported by each company. Segment names are the filer's own and are not standardized across companies. Do not assume a same-named or similarly-named segment is defined identically between two companies. Shares are of each company's own total revenue and are not required to sum to 100% (intersegment revenue, unallocated items).| Company | Largest Segment |
|---|---|
| Nucor Corporation | Steel mills 63.56 % |
| Ati Inc | High Performance Materials & Components 56.92 % |
| Reliance Inc | Metals Service Centers Segment 100.00 % |
| Mueller Industries Inc | Piping Systems 63.75 % |
| United States Steel Corp | Flat Rolled Products 60.10 % |
| Alcoa Corp | Aluminum 79.58 % |
Source: operating segment revenue as reported in each company's SEC filings (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API, leaf-level reportable segments only (parent roll-up segments are excluded where sub-segments are separately disclosed).
Nucor's Productivity vs Peers Comparison
Revenue and income per employee, trailing 12 months, in $; market cap in millions of $| Company | Market Cap | Revenue / Employee | Income / Employee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nucor Corporation | 55,866 | 1,093,970 | 98,667 |
| Arcelormittal | 53,505 | 475,596,899 | 25,139,535 |
| Steel Dynamics Inc | 33,312 | 1,426,297 | 111,065 |
| Ati Inc | 24,987 | 620,421 | 64,329 |
| Reliance Inc | 20,349 | 944,943 | 51,382 |
| Mueller Industries Inc | 13,486 | 964,639 | 177,331 |
| PEERS TOTAL | 211,830 | 1,314,479 | 64,550 |
Nucor's Geographic Revenue Exposure vs Peers
Revenue by country/region as reported in each company's most recent filing. Disclosure granularity varies by filer (some report by country, others by broad region) and is shown as disclosed.| Company | Largest Market |
|---|---|
| Steel Dynamics Inc | US 92.24 % |
| Ati Inc | United States 60.14 % |
| Remitly Global Inc | United States 65.76 % |
| Azz Inc | United States 97.20 % |
| Century Aluminum Company | United States 86.55 % |
Source: revenue geography as reported in each company's SEC filings (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API. Percentages are of that company's own total consolidated revenue for its most recent reported period.
Nucor's Position in Industry Market Structure
Market-capitalization share and concentration across all 29 companies in Nucor's industry classification, broader than the peer set above. Market cap in millions of $.Nucor ranks #1 of 29 companies by market capitalization in its industry, holding 18.91 % of total industry market cap. The industry's Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) is 1,141, indicating a unconcentrated market structure (U.S. antitrust guidance: below 1,500 unconcentrated, 1,500 to 2,500 moderately concentrated, above 2,500 highly concentrated).
| Rank | Company | Market Cap | Industry Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nucor Corporation | 55,891 | 18.91 % |
| 2 | Arcelormittal | 53,436 | 18.08 % |
| 3 | Steel Dynamics Inc | 33,358 | 11.29 % |
| 4 | Tenaris Sa | 29,635 | 10.03 % |
| 5 | Ati Inc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 6 | Reliance Inc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 7 | Carpenter Technology Corporation | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 8 | Posco Holdings Inc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 9 | Ternium S a | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 10 | Gerdau S a | 1,234 | 5.2% |
Market cap and industry share for the rest of Nucor's industry peers requires a Commercial License.
Source: CSIMarket API (daily market-structure computation) across CSIMarket's industry classification, market capitalization as of 2026-09-28.
Nucor's Same-Size Peers & Stock Performance
Peers chosen by closeness in market-cap rank within the same industry classification (not the named-competitor list above). Trailing 12-month total return, 3-month price momentum, beta and Sharpe ratio vs the broad U.S. market.| Rank | Company | Market Cap | TTM Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nucor Corporation | 55,891 | 81.51 % |
| 2 | Arcelormittal | 53,436 | 92.76 % |
| 3 | Steel Dynamics Inc | 1,234 | 12.3% |
| 4 | Tenaris Sa | 1,234 | 12.3% |
| 5 | Ati Inc | 1,234 | 12.3% |
| 6 | Reliance Inc | 1,234 | 12.3% |
Market cap, return, momentum, beta and Sharpe ratio for the rest of Nucor's same-size peers requires a Commercial License.
Source: CSIMarket API (daily market-structure computation); returns and risk metrics as of 2026-09-28. Beta and Sharpe ratio are versus the broad U.S. equity market, not this industry.
Nucor's Profitability & Cost Structure
Trailing 12-month margins from SEC-filed financials. Operating margin is compared to the Iron & Steel industry median; gross margin, EBITDA margin and capital intensity are compared to the live industry average (39 companies).| Metric | Company | Industry | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Margin | 15.47 % | 24.76 % (avg) | -9.3 pp |
| Operating Margin | - | industry median | - |
| EBITDA Margin | 15.56 % | 3.07 % (avg) | +12.5 pp |
| Capital Intensity (Capex / Revenue) | 7.87 % | 4.65 % (avg) | +3.2 pp |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. SG&A and R&D as a share of revenue have limited coverage as this data is backfilled and appear only where reported. Higher capital intensity is not inherently negative; it reflects the industry's asset requirements.
Nucor's Valuation vs Competitive Position
Valuation multiples vs the Iron & Steel industry average (39 companies, excluding loss-making/negative-equity outliers), alongside returns on capital for context on whether a premium or discount lines up with measurably stronger or weaker returns.| Metric | Company | Industry Average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 19.1x | 31.3x | -12.1x |
| EV / EBITDA | 10.5x | 13.1x | -2.6x |
| P/B | 2.4x | 2.4x | +0.0x |
| Return on Equity | 14.49 % | industry aggregate | 0.45 % |
| Return on Invested Capital | - | 1.14 % (avg) | - |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. A valuation premium or discount is not, by itself, a judgment of over- or under-valuation. Compare it against the return and growth context shown elsewhere on this page.
Nucor's Multi-Year Financial Trajectory
Fiscal-year revenue growth, operating margin, return on invested capital and P/E, as reported in SEC filings.| Metric | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue Growth | 23.77 % | -9.89 % | -10.84 % | 85.62 % | 13.78 % | -16.38 % | -11.46 % | 5.73 % |
| Operating Margin | 13.26 % | 8.42 % | 8.01 % | 25.88 % | 25.31 % | 17.95 % | 9.69 % | 8.18 % |
| Return on Invested Capital | 13.41 % | 7.07 % | 5.76 % | 27.56 % | 23.08 % | 12.03 % | 5.72 % | 5.01 % |
| P/E | 7.8x | 13.2x | 23.1x | 4.2x | 5.1x | 9.3x | 16.0x | 21.5x |
Source: CSIMarket API, fiscal-year figures. P/E is this company's own historical ratio at each fiscal year end and can swing sharply around an earnings trough: that is real, not a data error.
Nucor's BCG Growth-Share Matrix
Relative market share (vs Nucor's largest competitor by market cap) against industry revenue growth, using the standard textbook thresholds (1.0x share, 10% growth) a common framework, not a precision instrument.
Nucor falls in the Cash Cow quadrant: relative market share of 1.05x vs its largest competitor, in an industry growing revenue 5.0% (median, trailing 12 months).
Source: CSIMarket API (market-cap share and industry revenue growth). The 10% growth and 1.0x share lines are standard textbook thresholds, not derived from this industry's own distribution.
Nucor's Competitive Forces (Porter's Five Forces)
Only the forces this data can support honestly are shown; the other three are marked as such rather than guessed.| Force | Assessment | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Competitive Rivalry | High | Industry HHI of 1,141 (see Industry Market Structure & Concentration above) |
| Barriers to Entry | High (capital intensive) | Capital intensity (capex / revenue) of 7.87 % vs industry average 4.65 % (see Profitability & Cost Structure above) |
| Supplier Power | Not covered on this page | See Nucor's dedicated suppliers page for concentration and dependency data |
| Buyer Power | Not covered on this page | See Nucor's dedicated customers page for concentration and dependency data |
| Threat of Substitutes | - | No systematic data source for cross-product substitution exists in this system; not estimated |
Note: this is a partial, data-grounded application of the framework, not a complete strategic assessment. Rivalry and barriers-to-entry readings are mechanical translations of the HHI and capital-intensity figures shown elsewhere on this page, not independent judgments.
Nucor's Industry Attractiveness & Competitive Strength
A CSIMarket composite, not a standard field: each axis is an equal-weighted average of three factors already shown elsewhere on this page (industry growth, industry profitability and rivalry for attractiveness; relative market share, profitability and growth vs industry for strength). Disclosed as a designed methodology, not a precision measurement.
Nucor falls in the Low attractiveness / High strength cell: Selective.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Each axis score is a simple 1(low)/2(medium)/3(high) average across its three inputs -- a transparent, disclosed simplification, not a validated academic scoring model.
Nucor's SWOT
Every point below is a fixed rule applied to a metric already shown elsewhere on this page (Market Structure, Profitability, Valuation, Run-Rate, Stock Performance, Quality Breadth) not an independent strategic assessment. A blank quadrant means no rule was met, not that none apply.Strengths
- Market leader by capitalization in its industry (#1 of 29, 18.91 % share).
- Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is accelerating (+15.2% annualized vs trailing 12 months).
- Outperforming the U.S.A. 500 over the trailing 12 months.
Weaknesses
No rule matched.
Opportunities
No rule matched.
Threats
- High capital intensity requires continuous reinvestment just to keep pace with the industry.
Methodology: mechanical, rule-based SWOT. Each bullet reuses a figure already sourced and cited elsewhere on this page; nothing here is generated narrative or independent analyst judgment.
Nucor's Financial Strength vs Peers Comparison
Quick ratio, working capital, debt to equity and asset turnover, trailing 12 months| Company | Quick Ratio | Working Capital | Debt / Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nucor Corporation | 0.52 | 2.76 | 0.31 |
| Arcelormittal | 0.24 | 1.36 | 0.05 |
| Steel Dynamics Inc | 0.31 | 3.12 | 0.46 |
| Ati Inc | 0.44 | 2.52 | 1.29 |
| Reliance Inc | 0.23 | 4.15 | 0.21 |
| Mueller Industries Inc | 2.68 | 5.17 | 0.00 |
Quick ratio = cash / current liabilities; working capital ratio = current assets / current liabilities; asset turnover = revenue / total assets. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Nucor's Revenue and Income Growth vs Peers
Quarterly revenue and net income growth, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Revenue Y/Y | Income Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nucor Corporation | Q2 2026 | +23.0 % | +81.3 % |
| Arcelormittal | Q4 2025 | -1.7 % | +135.0 % |
| Steel Dynamics Inc | Q2 2026 | +33.4 % | +76.2 % |
| Ati Inc | Q2 2026 | +10.6 % | +48.4 % |
| Reliance Inc | Q1 2026 | +15.5 % | +32.5 % |
| Mueller Industries Inc | Q2 2026 | +25.5 % | +0.5 % |
| PEERS TOTAL | +7.1 % | +124.9 % |
Growth is shown only where both periods are positive. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Nucor's Peers' Costs of Sales and Capital Expenditures
Context for revenue growth: peer costs and capex, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Costs Y/Y | Capex Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nucor Corporation | Q2 2026 | +15.6 % | -40.1 % |
| Arcelormittal | Q4 2025 | +1.1 % | - |
| Steel Dynamics Inc | Q2 2026 | +30.0 % | -57.0 % |
| Ati Inc | Q2 2026 | +5.9 % | -4.9 % |
| Reliance Inc | Q1 2026 | +16.4 % | -26.1 % |
| Mueller Industries Inc | Q2 2026 | +31.5 % | +52.9 % |
Nucor's Returns and Turnover vs Peers
ROA, ROI and ROE (trailing 12 months), receivables and inventory turnover| Company | ROA | ROI | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nucor Corporation | 9.14% | 9.96% | 14.49% |
| Arcelormittal | 3.32% | 4.09% | 5.74% |
| Steel Dynamics Inc | 9.66% | 10.53% | 17.76% |
| Ati Inc | 9.28% | 10.11% | 25.64% |
| Reliance Inc | 7.64% | 8.27% | 11.18% |
| Mueller Industries Inc | 21.93% | 24.78% | 25.84% |
ROA = net income / total assets; ROI = net income / investments; ROE = net income / equity; turnover ratios use trailing 12 month revenue (receivables) and cost of sales (inventory).
Nucor's Valuation vs Peers
P/E, price to sales, PEG, price to cash flow and price to book| Company | P/E | Price / Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Nucor Corporation | 19.51 | 1.55 |
| Arcelormittal | 16.97 | 0.87 |
| Steel Dynamics Inc | 20.94 | 1.62 |
| Ati Inc | 53.14 | 5.30 |
| Reliance Inc | 25.57 | 1.37 |
| Mueller Industries Inc | 15.88 | 2.89 |
| PEERS AVERAGE | 19.96 | 1.10 |
P/E = price / diluted EPS (trailing 12 months); PEG = P/E divided by EPS growth; the average row divides the peers' combined market cap by their combined income, sales, cash flow and equity.