Nucor Shares Rise On Better-than-expected Outlook

The firm also boosted its price target on Nucor's stock to $55 from $50 "to reflect our view the market will continue to reward directionally positive news flow in the near-term," he wrote.

Gagliano wrote that several factors suggest the second quarter "will mark the trough in the current steel earnings cycle."

They include Nucor's recently improved orders, increasing operating rates at U.S. steel mills, stabilized and improving steel prices, low steel inventories at distributors, and a customer survey indicating demand should increase in the coming months.

Shares of Nucor rose $1.09, or 2.4 percent, to $46.84 in afternoon trading. Earlier in the session, the stock climbed more than 3 percent.