Is NUE a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Nucor Corporation on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how NUE compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Nucor Corporation's AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to NUE based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes NUE a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

NUE - Nucor Corporation

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $229.57 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Other Commodity Producers

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

B- 67.5 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for other commodity producers businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 15%

C+ 61.4

5yr Avg ROIC 18.2% 88/100
Operating Margin Trend -5.03 pp/yr 0/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 10%

A+ 96.6

5yr Avg ROE 21.7% 95/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR -5.8% 100/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 5%

F 18.4

5yr Revenue CAGR -2.9% 14/100
5yr EPS CAGR -24.5% 0/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 3/5 60/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 25%

B- 63.8

5yr FCF Margin 9.7% 69/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 0.62x 58/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 25%

A 92.7

Net Debt / EBITDA 1.08x 84/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 44.53x 100/100
Altman Z-Score 5.17 100/100

Stability

Weight: 20%

D+ 42.5

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.95 2/100
Piotroski F-Score 8 89/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 2/5 60/100

5 of 5 gurus held; 1 new buy; 1 added; 3 trimmed.

Holders: 5 +1
Avg Δ position: +28.3%
New buys: 1
Full exits: 0

Dalio new
Greenblatt increased +223%
Buffett decreased -39%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (15%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (10%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (5%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (25%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (25%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (20%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.