Nucor CEO expects 2021 to have a robust yr after posting document earnings within the quarter

Leon Topalian, CEO of Nucor, told CNBC on Friday that he expected the good times to continue for the rest of the year after the steelmaker reported record results in the last quarter.

“Nucor expects the next quarter to be strong, but honestly, for all of the indicators we look at, we assume that 2021 will remain strong all year round,” he said in an interview with Jim Cramer “Mad Money”.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company announced Thursday that it had posted earnings of $ 942.4 million, or $ 3.10 per share, for the first three months of 2021. The company had $ 7 billion in revenue, up 25% year over year and up 15% over the same quarter before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Strong demand and rising prices are a boon for Nucor’s steel mill segment. Steel making accounted for almost two thirds of the company’s sales.

The results cap a nearly $ 4 billion investment strategy that spans Nucor’s nine projects over several years, Topalian said.

Much of that investment went into building a plate mill in Brandenburg, Kentucky. The factory in which Nucor intends to produce steel plates for the end market of wind farms is scheduled to go into operation at the end of next year.

“This investment is incredibly strategic and positioned not only where it is in the geography but also when we think about what is happening in the renewable offshore wind market,” said Topalian.

“This mill will be a unique, differentiated value supplier for our customers now and in the future. We are therefore geared towards the long term, we will continue to invest and continue to grow.”

Nucor’s shares rose 2.29% to trade at $ 77.83.