Nucor: Company Overview

The gross profit margin measures the amount of profits that a company generates from its operations without consideration of its indirect costs. Thehigher thegross profit margin, the greater the efficiency of a company’s operations (Besley & Brigham 2007). It means that the company is generating enough income to cover its operating expenses. On the contrary, a lower gross profit margin indicates that the business is not generating adequate income to cover its operating expenses.

Net Margin is the ratio of net profits to revenues of a company. It is used as an indicator of a company’s ability to control its costs and how much profit it makes for every dollar of revenue it generates. Net Margin is calculated using the formula: Net Margin = (Net Profit / Revenues ) * 100 Net margins vary from company to company with individual industries having typically expected ranges given similar constraints within the industry. For example, a retail company might be expected to have low net margins while a technology company could generate margins of 15-20% or more. Companies that increase their net margins over time generally see their share price rise over time as well as the company is increasing the rate at which it turns dollars earned into profits.

A typical Gross profit margin depending on the industry may be 25 to 30%. Nucor’s Gross profit margin ratio indicates that industry is intense and cost of goods is one of the main of factor in profitability. After examining the five year

The ratio expresses the relationship of gross profit on sales to net sales in terms of percentage (Van Horne, Wachowicz & Bhaduri, 2005). Goss profit is the result of the relationship between prices, sales volume and costs. Gross profit margin of Starbucks Corporation is 23% whereas the ratio for McDonald’s is 35%. McDonald’s ratio is high as compared to Starbucks which is a sign of good management. It implies that the cost of production of the firm is relatively low. The McDonald’s has reasonable gross margin which ensures adequate coverage for operating expenses of the firm and sufficient return to the owners of the business, which is reflected in the net profit margin.

Profit Margin: -This ratio relates the operating profit to the sales value (Walker, 2009). It tells us the amount of net profit per pound of turnover a business has earned.

The Consolidated Operating Margin for April resulted in a gain of $699K or a 5.6% margin. The operating margin variance was favorable by $116K when compared to the budgeted operating margin gain of $583K or 5.0%. The leading indicator for April’s better than budgeted performance was higher than budgeted Patient Revenue and a favorable payor mix.

Gross profit is defined as the difference between Sales and Cost of Sales. The gross margin (or gross profit ratio) expresses the gross profit as a proportion of net sales. The gross profit margin ratio measures how efficiently a company uses its resources, materials, and labour in the production process by showing the percentage of net sales remaining after subtracting the cost of making and selling a product or service. It indicates the profitability of a business before overhead costs. The higher the percentage, the more the business retains of each dollar of sales. So: the higher the gross profit margin ratio, the better.

In terms of industry profitability, it appears that profit margins have a tendency to fall. This is because competition is high and customers tend to buy low-priced high-value items. The average gross margin and net profit margin is 37.1% and 14.3%, respectively (MSN Money, 2010).

Nucor has created a company that is both internally and externally fit to the environment. The firm responds well to the driving forces of the industry and has opted to take a low-cost strategy with the relentless pursuit of innovation and strong employee productivity in order to combat the issues of the steel industry. In 2000, Nucor decided to expand its operations by acquiring new firms and new factories while continuing with its low-cost operations. The competitive strategy of Nucor has helped it become one of the leading manufacturers of steel and steel products in the United States.

The Net Profit Margin in 2012 was 10.5% while in 2013 it was 66.6%. This increase in the Net Profit Margin can be attributed to the increase in net profits after taxes despite the fact that there was a slight decrease in revenues.

Operating profit margin figures in the table above show the return from net sales[13]. However profit margin ratios are high enough for the 3 years, there is a fall from 12.86% to 11.26% during 2011-12. Sales revenue increases with a higher rate than gross profit so there is a poor

In 2017, the firm had a higher percentage of cost of sales in term of revenue than 2016, the cost of sales was 30.11% which was higher than 2016 for 0.21%, that means the firm’s gross margin in 2017 (69.89%) will also lower than the gross margin in 2016 for 0.21%. Burberry had a higher net operating expenses in 2017. The net operating expenses was 55.63% which was higher than 2016 for 1.56%, that also lower the operating margin, therefore the operating margin for the firm has decreased from 16.02% to 14.26% (-1.76%).

These strategies have been very effective in terms of expanding its resources as well as conceptualization of new technology (using electric arc furnace as alternative to conventional furnace) and improvement of plant efficiency thru equipment upgrades. The usage of the technology has allowed low investment cost for facilities and equipment that eliminated expensive steps in steel making. Also the use of scrap materials has lessened the purchase of ore for steel making. Furthermore, joint ventures have given them option to join global market of steel producers. However, Nucor should be also wary on possible entrants that could offer low cost steel which might be a reason for a loss of customers which in-turn loose potential income and worst cut jobs.

Now let’s see how much profit a company makes for every $ 1 it generates in revenue. Profit margins vary by industry, but all else being equal, the higher a company’s profit margin compared to its competitors, the better.