Nucor Corporation (NUE) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Thank you for joining the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Nucor Corporation. Today's meeting may include forward-looking statements. Please refer to the slide on your screen for important information that could cause actual results to differ from those forward-looking statements. I will now turn the call over to John Walker, Nucor's non-executive Chairman.

Good morning. I'm John Walker, the non-executive Chairman of Nucor. I'd like to welcome Nucor's stockholders, as well as our Nucor teammates and guests who are participating in or listening to this meeting. Due to the public health risks of the COVID-19 pandemic we made the decision to put safety first and prioritize the health and well-being of our stockholders, teammates and other meeting participants. As a result, we are holding our annual meeting virtually again this year and we are participating from different locations. If you have not already done so, you may vote your shares online during the meeting prior to the closing of the polls by following the voting instructions on your screen. While the meeting is virtually only, we welcome questions from our stockholders. You may submit questions by following the instructions on your screen. As nonexecutive chairman, I call the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Nucor Corporation to order. At this time, I would like to introduce Leon Topalian, Nucor's President and Chief Executive Officer; and I'm pleased to turn the share of this meeting over to Leon.

Thank you, John, and good morning to our stockholders, teammates and guests who have joined us today. We appreciate your attendance, your interest and most importantly, your support of Nucor. At this time, I'd also specifically like to thank and recognize our retired CEOs, Dave Aycock, Dan DiMicco; and John Ferriola. They usually attend this meeting when we hold it in person, and I'm sure they're listening in today. Gentlemen, we miss being with you today and look forward to seeing you in the future. Rae Eagle, Nucor's Vice President and Corporate Secretary, will act as secretary of this meeting. Connecting from various locations, we have with us today several key members of Nucor's management team whom I'm pleased to introduce. Jim Frias, our Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Executive Vice President; Dave Sumoski, our Chief Operating Officer; Al Behr, Executive Vice President of Plate and Structural Products; Craig Feldman, Executive Vice President of Raw Materials; Doug Jellison, Executive Vice President, responsible for the David Joseph Company and Logistics; Greg Murphy, Executive Vice President of Business Services and General Counsel; Ray Napolitan, Executive Vice President of Engineered Bar as well as Nucor's Digital Initiatives; Dan Needham, Executive Vice President of Bar and Rebar Fabrication Products; Rex Query, Executive Vice President of Sheet and Tubular Products; and MaryEmily Slate, Executive Vice President of our commercial teams; Chad Utermark, Executive Vice President of Fabricated Construction Products. Earlier this year, Craig Feldman announced his plans to retire in June after 35 years of dedicated service with Nucor and the David Joseph Company. Craig, your leadership expertise have been invaluable to our raw material strategy, and we thank you for your dedication and wish you the very best in your retirement. Ray Napolitan also recently announced his plans to retire next month. Ray has been an exceptional and resourceful leader who has made an outstanding contribution throughout his career with Nucor. Over the last 25 years, he's held key roles in fabricated construction products and engineered bar product services as well as our digital initiatives. We thank you both for your leadership and for your friendship. You'll both be missed and we wish both of you a very long, happy and healthy retirement. In addition to John Walker, we have with us today the following current directors and nominees for election as directors joining us remotely; Patrick Dempsey, Chris Kearney, Laurette Koellner, Joe Rupp and Nadja West. A couple of Nucor's advisers are also joining us remotely from the law firm of Moore & Van Allen, Wade Sample. And from the accounting firm of Pricewaterhousecoopers, we have Matt Kosmicki. Now on to some business. The secretary will please report the stockholders present or represented by proxy.

Of the 298,688,699 shares issued and outstanding and entitled to to vote at this meeting, there are present or represented by proxy, more than 263 million shares.

Since the holders of a majority of the shares issued and outstanding and entitled to vote at this meeting are present or represented by proxy, a quorum is present for the transaction of all items of business. I will ask the secretary to file the proxies with Nucor's records. Rae, will you please report on the notice of meeting sent to stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 15, 2021, these are the holders entitled to vote at this meeting.

I present to this meeting my affidavit showing the mailing commencing on March 26, 2021, to each stockholder of record as of the close of business on March 15, 2021, the following. The notice of the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and related proxy materials or the notice of Internet availability of proxy materials. Our counsel advised us that the mailing was made in accordance with all applicable requirements of law, including the regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the rules of the New York Stock Exchange.

Thank you, Rae. Please annex your affidavit to the minutes to this meeting. Sid Rodrigue with Broadridge Financial Solutions has been appointed Inspector of Elections as required by Delaware law. He has submitted his oath of office, and I ask that his oath be attached to the minutes of this meeting. The next order of business is to consider the 3 proposals for this Annual Meeting as set forth in the proxy statement. Proposal #1 is the election of the 7 directors for 1 year. In terms of Patrick Dempsey, Chris Kearney, Laurette Koellner, Joseph Rupp, John Walker, Nadja West and myself will expire at this Annual Meeting. The Board's governance and nominating committee has recommended, and the Board of Directors has nominated these 7 nominees for reelection for 1 year terms ending at Nucor's annual meeting in 2022. There are no other nominees. Proposal #2 is the ratification of the appointment of Pricewaterhousecoopers to serve as Nucor's independent registered public accounting firm for 2021. The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors has appointed Pricewaterhousecoopers to serve as Nucor's independent registered public accounting firm for 2021. Nucor's Board of Directors unanimously recommends a vote for this proposal. And Proposal #3 is an advisory vote to approve Nucor's named Executive Officer compensation in 2020. Nucor's Board of Directors unanimously recommends a vote for this proposal. If you are a stockholder entitled to vote and have not yet voted or if you want to change your previously cast vote, please do so via the website used to access this meeting. Please remember that if you have already voted by proxy, it is not necessary to vote again. The polls are about to close. So if you have not yet voted, please do so. [Voting]

I declare the polls closed and ask that the inspector of elections to announce the preliminary results of the vote.

Thank you. I submit a certificate of the inspector of elections certifying to the vote. Proposal #1, all 7 director nominees have been reelected as directors of the company. Proposal #2, the appointment of Pricewaterhousecoopers to serve as Nucor's independent registered public accounting firm for 2021 has been ratified by the stockholders. And Proposal #3, Nucor's named Executive Officer compensation in 2020 has been approved on an advisory basis by the stockholders.

Thank you, Sid. If there are no further business to come before this meeting, a motion to adjourn is in order.

I move.

I second the motion.

Thank you. A motion has been made and seconded. Without objection, I declare that this meeting is adjourned. We will now proceed with a discussion of Nucor's business. What a difference a year makes. When we made our presentation at last year's annual meeting, we were all just coming in grips with a pandemic and making the very best of a very uncertain outlook. Nucor shares at the time were trading at $37 a share. Many of us have suffered tremendous losses and carry heavy burdens as a result of the pandemic but also can't help but being hardened by the fact that we appear to be putting the worst of its effects behind us here in the United States. Economic growth has resumed, business investment is up and unemployment is falling. At Nucor, we are seeing strong demand across all of our product groups. Today, Nucor's shares are trading at all-time highs. We recently broke our record for quarterly earnings, and we expect to surpass that record when we release this quarter's results in July. When I stop to consider, how Nucor was able to weather the worst the pandemic threw at us and still emerge as a stronger company as we move past its worst effects. It comes down to our team and the strength of our culture. Our culture provides the essential foundation, enabling us to be there for our customers, create value for our shareholders and be the employer of choice for our teammates and their communities. And since safety is the most important value and the best indication of how we care for one another who live our culture, let me provide a brief update on how we're doing in safety. 2020 was the safest year in our history, and we're on track today to make 2021 an even safer year. We are being incredibly deliberate about improving our safety performance. Recently, we held a company-wide hand safety week to try to reduce our hand-related injuries as they are a major source of our safety incidents. During 2020, we were also reminded that safety is about more than just the data, the pandemic and widespread racial unrest in the United States over the past year has made us think more broadly about safety. We are convinced that we cannot possibly live our culture and achieve the performance we aspire to without each team member being intentional about getting to know and value all of their team members. Without regard to skin color, religious belief, sexual orientation or any other marker that are 2 commonly frivolous sources of division in conflict in our society. So we are reemphasizing the importance of inclusion and equity throughout Nucor. We aspire to become a more inclusive and diverse company over time, and reap the benefits of the diversity and higher performance. I am optimistic of the progress we're making, and we'll continue to make as we move forward. Safety is just one of the areas where we would want to be a leader. Nucor is also one of the cleanest and most efficient steel producers in the world, and we want to continue to raise the bar for what it means to be a sustainable company. The focus and attention sustainability gets today is appropriate and it's refreshing to see and acknowledge that there is more than running a business then simply maximizing shareholder value. American businesses should not have to make an either/or decision of maximizing profits or taking care of its responsibilities to its employees, customers and the communities where they live and work. Successful companies can and must do each of these, and this is the way Nucor has been run for over 50 years. We see this as a critical factor contributing to our success over the decades. And as the world gets more focused on mitigating climate change, Nucor is ready to lead here as well. We already outperformed the industry by a wide margin in terms of the carbon dioxide intensity of our production processes, and we are constantly evaluating ways we can do better. We will very soon provide increased disclosure with respect to our carbon footprint, announced CO2 emission reduction targets and elaborate further on our initiatives to achieve them. Of course, Nucor's also focused on delivering world-class results in every area of our business, from safety and sustainability to maximizing returns to our shareholders. We are committed to holding ourselves accountable for these results, which allow us to continue to make the growth investments that position Nucor as the market leader today and well into the future. Our preferred way to drive growth and performance is to reinvest in our business, creating opportunities for our team and their communities and attractive returns for our shareholders. I won't review this page in detail, but it lists 7 significant expansions or revitalizations we have undertaken over the past couple of years. We made these investments after careful consideration of the competitive landscape and market opportunities. These projects involve repositioning and strengthening our bar businesses and enhancing the value-added capabilities of our sheet business. I'm pleased to report with the exception of the galvanizing line in JFE in Mexico, we have faced delays, which have faced delays caused by the pandemic each of these divisions has been contributing to our results well ahead of expectations. Many thanks to all of our teammates at these facilities for working to bring these projects online safely over these last 3 months -- several months. And as most of you know, we are bringing online several more projects that will meaningfully enhance our capabilities and our profitability. Our new brand in bird plate mill in the modernization of the expansion of the Gallatin sheet mill are the most significant of these projects. We expect to deploy approximately $1.7 billion of your valuable capital on these opportunities this year and next. This will be our key areas of focus. We recognize the importance of these projects for Nucor's future and the importance of executing well on all aspects of them. We were thrilled to be developing these assets during a market environment where the need for their capabilities is so evident. Brandenburg will be the most capable steel plate mill in the United States and will be well positioned to supply the anticipated build-out of offshore wind farms on the East Coast of the United States. We're having productive discussions with some of the leading offshore wind farm developers, and they are excited to learn about both, Brandenburg's capabilities and Nucor's environmental track record. Of course, profitable growth doesn't always have to be so capital-intensive even in the steel industry. Let me take a minute here to talk about one of our initiatives I'm very excited about. About a year ago, we formed our Construction Solutions team. They are a small group of experts that are working to make sure decision-makers and influencers throughout the construction sector fully appreciate and understanding the versatility of steel, Nucor's enterprise-wide capabilities and track record as well as the advantages of working with some of our most unique products. In support of our Construction Solutions effort, we recently launched a national ad campaign, celebrating the minds of steel among architects and engineers and telling the story of how they innovate and design with steel. One Nucor product that has enabled new design possibilities for steel construction is our AOS steel beam. Made at our Nucor Yamato Steel plant, this high-strength theme, phase architects, fabricators and builders, time and weight on their projects, while enabling design innovation. Our business is already seeing the benefits of this more proactive engagement strategy. And before we take your questions, let me conclude by reiterating. So we intend to maintain a strong financial position that has been the hallmark of Nucor for decades. We feel [indiscernible] Nucor all stakeholders quite well. We also remain committed to paying and increasing our dividend each year. A supplemental return of capital with our net-net income, free cash flow and financial conditions warranted. A good example of this policy in action is evident on this chart, if you look at the year 2018. Another very profitable year for Nucor. Our dividend which was not sufficient that year to cover the 40% of net income, we've been committed to returning to our shareholders each year. So we supplemented it with share repurchases of more than $850 million. We expect 2021 to be another excellent year for the net income and free cash flows. As we look out for the remainder of the year, you can expect further share repurchases this year. Indeed, during the first quarter, we conducted open market repurchases of about 5.4 million shares or $300 million in addition to our dividend. Okay. With that, let's move on to our Q&A. [Operator Instructions] Paul Donnelly, Nucor's Director of Investor Relations, will read the questions as we receive them in. Paul?

Thanks, Leon. The question is on greenhouse gas emissions reductions. It reads why hasn't Nucor yet set an ambitious target or any target for greenhouse gas emissions reductions?

Well, Nucor has one of the smallest greenhouse gas footprints of any steel producing company in the world, and we're committed to reducing not only our greenhouse gas emissions, but all emissions from our operations. We've been studying these issues carefully and we do plan to establish a greenhouse gas reduction target in the very near future later this summer. We are giving this important issue, thoughtful study. We have a proud history of industry-leading technological innovation, and we'll stay abreast of opportunities to implement solutions in this area. In fact, we recently formed a sustainability technology team to study and potentially pursue emerging technologies in this arena.

We have another question. How do you think Nucor is doing in terms of diversity and inclusion? Are you seeing any results from your renewed focus in these areas?

Well, we employ 27,000 team members from diverse backgrounds, and I think each of us has been shaken by the events over the last year and the apparent polarization in our nation. At Nucor, our ambition, our mission is to be an employer of choice for our teammates and their families and a force for good in our communities. I think if we stay true to our values, we will be those things and hopefully contribute to healing and moving the nation forward. Further, I'm proud of the decisions and meaningful results that our leadership has already taken over this last year regarding inclusion and diversity. And we are committed to ensuring we continue to make Nucor an employer of choice where every team member feels valued, appreciated, respected and part of the Nucor family. We are also committed to continue taking long-term steps necessary to increase diversity at every level of our leadership in our organization. Well, this concludes the Q&A portion of our meeting. If there are additional questions, please contact our Investor Relations team. I'd like to close by thanking our Board members for participating remotely and to our teammates listening in, your health, safety, and well-being is our most important responsibility. Thank you for all you do and for your focus in keeping our mills and facilities running safely. Finally, I'd like to thank our stockholders for attending today and for your continued interest in our company.