As previously reported, Credit Suisse analyst Curt Woodworth upgraded Nucor to Outperform from Neutral as he believes the stock is oversold relative to medium term fundamentals. While the U.S. sheet markets are weak, the long product and plate markets are very strong and account for about 60% of total volume at Nucor, he contends. Further, Woodworth argues that while Nucor's capital spending profile the next few years is high, the company will still have plenty of bandwidth to repurchase shares given Big River is off the table. The analyst also lowered his price target on the shares to $70 from $74.

BMO Capital lowered the firm's price target on Nucor to $200 from $210 and keeps a Market Perform rating on the shares after its Q1 earnings miss. Following nine consecutive quarters of beating expectations, Nucor's results and outlook disappointed, while its Q2 results are also expected to moderate sequentially, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Nucor remains well-positioned to benefit from positive longer-term demand tailwinds, but its capex spending elevated, BMO adds.