NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Nucor Corp  (NUE) - Get Report are down 5.62% to $46.50 in late morning trading Thursday, after the steel producer issued a softer than expected first quarter guidance earlier this morning.

The company now expects earnings of between 10 cents to 15 cents per share, lower compared to the consensus estimate of 40 cents per share for the quarter.

Nucor said it expects overall operating performance at the steel mills segment to decrease significantly in the first quarter due to lower selling prices and margins.

Cheaper steel imports from China, the biggest producer of the metal, has been overwhelming the U.S. market due to the stronger dollar. The high level of imports in the domestic market is driving steel prices down, Reuters reports.

Charlotte, NC-based Nucor is a steel and steel products manufacturer that produces direct reduced iron for use its steel mills. It also processes ferrous and nonferrous metals and brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron, and hot briquette iron. 

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates NUCOR CORP as a Buy with a ratings score of B. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate NUCOR CORP (NUE) a BUY. This is driven by some important positives, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, good cash flow from operations and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• The revenue growth came in higher than the industry average of 18.9%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 2.2%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• NUCOR CORP has improved earnings per share by 22.6% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, NUCOR CORP increased its bottom line by earning $2.22 versus $1.52 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($2.58 versus $2.22).
• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the S&P 500 and greatly outperformed compared to the Metals & Mining industry average. The net income increased by 23.4% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $170.49 million to $210.43 million.
• Net operating cash flow has significantly increased by 114.77% to $417.34 million when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, NUCOR CORP has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of -47.05%.
• Despite currently having a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, it is higher than that of the industry average, inferring that management of debt levels may need to be evaluated further. Despite the fact that NUE's debt-to-equity ratio is mixed in its results, the company's quick ratio of 1.55 is high and demonstrates strong liquidity.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: NUE Ratings Report