Nucor vs Steel Dynamics
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The short version
- Nucor is the larger business, with $32.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $18.2B for Steel Dynamics, about 1.8 times as much.
- Nucor grew revenue faster (5.7%, against 3.6%).
- Steel Dynamics turned more of its sales into free cash flow (2.8% FCF margin, against −0.6%).
- Steel Dynamics earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (10.0%, against 8.6%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Nucor’s earnings: a P/E of 20.6x against 17.8x for Steel Dynamics.
| Latest fiscal year | NUE · FY25 | STLD · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $59.0B | $34.7B |
| Revenue | $32.5B | $18.2B |
| Free cash flow | −$188M | $502M |
| Net income | $1.7B | $1.2B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 5.7% | 3.6% |
| 5-year growth | 10.0% | 13.6% |
| Share count change | −3.1% | −5.0% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 11.9% | 13.2% |
| Operating margin | — | 8.1% |
| Net margin | 5.4% | 6.5% |
| FCF margin | −0.6% | 2.8% |
| Return on capital | 8.6% | 10.0% |
| Return on equity | 8.5% | 13.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $4.4B | $3.4B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.0x | 1.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.2B | $1.2B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 20.6x | 17.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
NUE $16.2B
STLD $7.8B
FY17
NUE $20.3B
STLD $9.5B
FY18
NUE $25.1B
STLD $11.8B
FY19
NUE $22.6B
STLD $10.5B
FY20
NUE $20.1B
STLD $9.6B
FY21
NUE $36.5B
STLD $18.4B
FY22
NUE $41.5B
STLD $22.3B
FY23
NUE $34.7B
STLD $18.8B
FY24
NUE $30.7B
STLD $17.5B
FY25
NUE $32.5B
STLD $18.2B
NUE
STLD
Operating margin
FY16
NUE —
STLD 9.4%
FY17
NUE —
STLD 11.2%
FY18
NUE —
STLD 14.6%
FY19
NUE —
STLD 9.4%
FY20
NUE —
STLD 8.8%
FY21
NUE —
STLD 23.4%
FY22
NUE —
STLD 22.9%
FY23
NUE —
STLD 16.8%
FY24
NUE —
STLD 11.1%
FY25
NUE —
STLD 8.1%
NUE
STLD
Free cash flow
FY16
NUE $1.1B
STLD $655M
FY17
NUE $607M
STLD $574M
FY18
NUE $1.4B
STLD $1.2B
FY19
NUE $1.3B
STLD $944M
FY20
NUE $1.2B
STLD −$211M
FY21
NUE $4.6B
STLD $1.2B
FY22
NUE $8.1B
STLD $3.6B
FY23
NUE $4.9B
STLD $1.9B
FY24
NUE $806M
STLD −$23.5M
FY25
NUE −$188M
STLD $502M
NUE
STLD
Return on capital
FY16
NUE 9.9%
STLD 10.7%
FY17
NUE 13.7%
STLD 20.8%
FY18
NUE —
STLD 27.7%
FY19
NUE —
STLD 15.1%
FY20
NUE 7.5%
STLD 12.5%
FY21
NUE 46.5%
STLD 47.8%
FY22
NUE 42.3%
STLD 47.1%
FY23
NUE 23.6%
STLD 26.3%
FY24
NUE 10.9%
STLD 14.5%
FY25
NUE 8.6%
STLD 10.0%
NUE
STLD
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.