Nucor Sees Narrower Loss (Update)

Updated from 11:19 a.m. EDT

Nucor(NUE Quote) issued a slightly more bullish outlook for its next quarter, saying losses will be narrower than expected.

The nation's biggest steelmaker and scrap-metal recycler also made a balance-sheet boast, hinting that its acquisitive ways may soon continue.

Nucor said it now expects its bottom line in the second quarter to show a per-share loss of between 55 cents and 65 cents. Analysts were looking for a 69-cent loss.

The famously non-union Charlotte, N.C., company -- which has refused to make any layoffs at all during the recession, instead putting workers on part-time duty -- attributed the slightly improved outlook to its "strong focus on overall cost reductions" and improved "order entry" in the last few weeks. That's industry-speak for, simply, the number of orders a manufacturer has logged from customers.

Recent reports from analysts and other industry-watchers have suggested that demand for steel, and therefore pricing, has strengthened recently, especially at so-called electric-arc furnaces -- or mini-mills -- which Nucor specializes in.

Others have remained cautious. Standard & Poor's analyst Leo Larkin, who covers mining and metals equities, was looking for Nucor to lose 55 cents a share in the second quarter. The company -- and the steel industry at large -- continues to battle high raw materials costs and still-weak demand in its end markets, such as construction. Larkin, in a note, maintained his sell rating on the stock.

In a statement issued before the bell Tuesday, Dan DiMicco, Nucor's chairman, CEO and president, made obligatory remarks about the "uncertain" economic outlook and "structural challenges facing the U.S. and global economies."