Nucor (NUE) Expands Vulcraft/Verco Group Into Canada

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) declared that its Vulcraft/Verco Group is extending its reach to Canada. The new production facility will operate as Vulcraft Canada, Inc., and will be based near Hamilton, Ontario. It will cater to the Central and Eastern Canadian markets.

Vulcraft Canada, a fully-owned subsidiary of Nucor, is a maker of steel joists and joist girders. Nucor stepped into the steel business with its buyout of Vulcraft Corporation. The Vulcraft/Verco Group currently has 10 facilities in the U.S. and is the nation's biggest producer of steel joists and deck.

Nucor saw higher profits in first-quarter 2016. However, its earnings missed expectations. The steel giant recorded a profit of $70.8 million or 22 cents per share in the quarter, up roughly 4% from a profit of $67.8 million or 21 cents per share logged a year ago. Earnings per share trailed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 27 cents.

Revenues fell around 16% year over year to $3,715.6 million in the reported quarter, hit by lower selling prices. However, sales beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,648 million.

Nucor expects significant improvement in earnings in the second quarter on a sequential basis. The company expects better performance in its Steel Mills division in the second quarter compared to the first backed by price hikes for many of its products.

Nucor also anticipates higher profits in its Downstream Products unit in the second quarter compared to the first as better weather conditions are likely to benefit non-residential construction markets.

For the Raw Materials segment, Nucor expects an improvement in performance in the second quarter, buoyed by better pricing across its scrap processing businesses and direct reduced iron ("DRI") facilities.

Nucor currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked stocks in the steel space include POSCO (NYSE:PKX) , ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) and Olympic Steel Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) , all carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).