STLD vs AA vs NUE Stock Comparison

Steel Dynamics, Alcoa and Nucor Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
STLD Steel Dynamics Inc
$237.55 +1.7% 1M +55.3% 1Y
Market cap
$34.70B
P/E
17.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$22.22B
Div. yield
0.01%
Steel Basic Materials
2 wins
AA Alcoa Corp
$38.69 -9.8% 1M -1.9% 1Y
Market cap
$10.36B
P/E
6.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.31B
Div. yield
0.01%
Aluminum Basic Materials
3 wins
NUE Nucor Corp
$257.44 +4.1% 1M +85.6% 1Y
Market cap
$60.43B
P/E
16.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$38.83B
Div. yield
–
Steel Basic Materials
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Nucor leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Nucor 4, Alcoa 3, Steel Dynamics 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSTLDAANUELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $34.70B $10.36B $60.43B NUE
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.8x 6.8x 16.8x AA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.9x 6.1x 12.8x AA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +26.0% +11.2% +21.8% STLD
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.8% — — –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 14.6% — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.0x — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.01% 0.00% AA
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +55.3% -1.9% +85.6% NUE
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +29.8%/yr -3.4%/yr +18.9%/yr STLD
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.9% 53.5% 31.7% NUE
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 56/100 69/100 73/100 NUE

Percentile Scorecard

STLDAANUE

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisSTLDAANUE
Valuation 68 #52 of 162 96 #8 of 162 85 #25 of 162
Growth 51 #73 of 147 73 #41 of 147 60 #59 of 147
Profitability 63 #46 of 122 73 #34 of 122 86 #18 of 122
Financial Health 37 #104 of 165 24 #126 of 165 –
Shareholder Returns 63 #40 of 107 78 #24 of 107 59 #44 of 107
Overall 56 69 73
  • STLD ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining
  • AA ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining
  • NUE ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodSTLDAANUESPY
1 month +1.7%-9.8%+4.1% -0.8%
3 months -5.1%-12.2%+3.9% +3.5%
6 months +5.6%-42.6%+19.7% +7.0%
Year to date +40.2%-27.2%+57.8% +12.2%
1 year +55.3%-1.9%+85.6% +13.0%
3 years +128.2%+64.6%+73.8% +86.3%
3 years, per year +31.7%+18.1%+20.3% +23.1%
5 years +268.0%-15.7%+137.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year +29.8%-3.4%+18.9% +11.0%
10 years +793.7%+73.8%+443.8% +258.0%
10 years, per year +24.5%+5.7%+18.5% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureSTLDAANUESPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.9%53.5%31.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.5%53.3%31.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.041.620.89 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.54-0.032.70 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -32.5%-76.3%-48.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -16.0%-53.8%-6.3% -1.8%
52-week high $282.76$83.79$274.65 $779.14
52-week low $151.62$35.26$142.66 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleSTLDAANUE
P/E now vs peer median 17.4xmedian 12.8x 6.7xmedian 12.8x 16.3xmedian 12.8x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 3.1x 0.7xmedian 3.1x 1.5xmedian 3.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.5xmedian 7.0x —median 7.0x —median 7.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 30.9xmedian 15.2x 31.5xmedian 15.2x 34.5xmedian 15.2x
P/B now vs peer median 3.4xmedian 2.1x 1.2xmedian 2.1x —median 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median -3.13median 0.29 0.14median 0.29 -2.10median 0.29

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsSTLDAANUE
Revenue $22.22B $14.31B $38.83B
Gross profit $3.53B – –
Operating income $2.56B – –
Net income $1.95B $1.51B $4.05B
Free cash flow $1.09B – –
R&D – $18.00M –
EPS (diluted) $13.58 $5.74 $15.74
Cash & equivalents $928.56M $4.41B $3.47B
Total debt $4.20B – –
Shares (diluted) 143.62M 266.00M 228.50M
Enterprise value $31.51B $10.36B $60.43B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricSTLDAANUE
P/E 17.4x 6.7x 16.3x
P/FCF 30.9x 31.5x 34.5x
P/Operating cash flow 20.0x 6.3x 11.0x
P/S 1.5x 0.7x 1.5x
P/B 3.4x 1.2x –
P/Tangible book 3.5x 1.2x –
EV/EBITDA 11.5x – –
EV/EBIT 14.5x – –
EV/Revenue 1.7x 0.7x 1.5x
EV/FCF 33.8x – –
EV/Operating cash flow 21.8x 6.3x 11.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.13 0.14 -2.10

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSTLDAANUE
Revenue growth (1Y) 26.0% 11.2% 21.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.6% 10.5% 2.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 53.3% – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -6.4% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 82.1% – –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -9.0% – –
Net income growth (1Y) 72.3% 34.9% 106.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -10.0% 52.7% -9.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 77.0% 30.8% 119.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -5.6% 46.5% -7.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 11.2% 51.4% 68.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -23.6% 426.9% -13.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 252.0% – –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -22.1% – –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSTLDAANUE
Gross margin 15.9% – –
EBITDA margin 14.4% – –
Operating margin 11.5% – –
Pretax margin 11.2% – –
Net margin 8.8% – –
FCF margin 4.9% – –
Operating cash flow margin 7.6% 11.2% 13.7%
Return on equity 20.5% 19.3% –
Return on assets 11.2% 8.1% 10.7%
Return on invested capital 14.6% – –
Return on capital employed 17.1% – –
Asset turnover 1.3x 0.8x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.9x 1.1x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.4% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSTLDAANUE
Debt / assets 23.6% – –
Debt / equity 0.4x – –
Net debt / EBITDA 1.0x – –
Debt / FCF 3.8x – –
Liabilities / assets 44.8% 59.5% 37.2%
Equity / assets 55.2% 40.5% –
Interest coverage 18.4x – –
Current ratio 3.1x 2.3x 2.5x
Quick ratio 1.4x – –
Cash ratio 0.4x – –
Altman Z-score 5.97 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSTLDAANUE
Dividend yield 0.9% 1.0% 0.9%
Net buyback yield 2.5% – –
Shareholder yield 3.3% 1.0% 0.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) 15.3% 7.0% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 27.2% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.4% 1.9% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.4% 14.3% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusSTLDAANUE
Forward P/E 13.9xFY2026 6.1xFY2026 12.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $17.12FY2026 $6.30FY2026 $20.11FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +114.3%FY2026 +67.1%FY2026 +160.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +20.7% -1.7% +6.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $22.93BFY2026 $13.77BFY2026 $39.95BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +26.1%FY2026 +7.3%FY2026 +22.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +15.9% +15.5% +8.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSTLDAANUE
Held by institutions 82.7% 77.8% 79.2%
Institutions holding 1,022 709 1,541
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.2% +2.9% +2.2%
Institutions buying 501 357 751
Institutions selling 370 242 516
Buyers to sellers 1.35 1.48 1.46

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

STLDAANUE
STLD 1.00 0.39 0.88
AA 0.39 1.00 0.34
NUE 0.88 0.34 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, STLD, AA and NUE?

Nucor (NUE) is the largest by market capitalisation: Steel Dynamics (STLD) $34.70B, Alcoa (AA) $10.36B, Nucor (NUE) $60.43B.

Which stock is cheaper, STLD, AA and NUE?

Alcoa (AA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Steel Dynamics (STLD) 17.8x, Alcoa (AA) 6.8x, Nucor (NUE) 16.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Alcoa (AA) is cheapest (Steel Dynamics (STLD) 13.9x, Alcoa (AA) 6.1x, Nucor (NUE) 12.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Steel Dynamics (STLD) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Steel Dynamics (STLD) +26.0%, Alcoa (AA) +11.2%, Nucor (NUE) +21.8%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nucor (NUE) returned the most: Steel Dynamics (STLD) +55.3%, Alcoa (AA) -1.9%, Nucor (NUE) +85.6%. Over five years, Steel Dynamics (STLD) compounded fastest (Steel Dynamics (STLD) +29.8%/yr, Alcoa (AA) -3.4%/yr, Nucor (NUE) +18.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Alcoa (AA) has the highest dividend yield: Steel Dynamics (STLD) 0.01%, Alcoa (AA) 0.01%, Nucor (NUE) 0.00%. Nucor (NUE) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Nucor (NUE) has been the steadiest (Steel Dynamics (STLD) 35.9%, Alcoa (AA) 53.5%, Nucor (NUE) 31.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, STLD, AA and NUE?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Nucor (NUE) leads on 4. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.