What is an income statement waterfall?

An income statement waterfall is a bar chart that walks from total revenue down to net income, with each step showing how much a cost or tax line removes (or adds). Subtotals — gross profit, operating income, pre-tax income — are anchored to zero so the cascade reconciles exactly to the bottom line.

How much of Nucor (NUE) revenue becomes net income?

For TTM through Q2 2026, Nucor turned $34.2B of revenue into $2.33B of net income — a net margin of 6.8%. The waterfall shows where the rest goes: cost of revenue, operating expenses, non-operating items, and taxes.

What are Nucor (NUE) gross, operating, and net margins?

For TTM through Q2 2026, Nucor reported a gross margin of 14%, an operating margin of 10%, and a net margin of 6.8%. Each subtotal in the waterfall corresponds to one of these margins.

Why does Nucor (NUE) have such a high (or low) gross margin?

Gross margin (gross profit ÷ revenue) reflects how much of each revenue dollar remains after direct production costs. Capital-light software and platform businesses often show gross margins above 60–80% because their cost of revenue is mainly hosting and support. Hardware, retail, and commodity businesses show lower gross margins because raw materials and manufacturing costs are significant. The waterfall makes this visible at a glance — the size of the "Cost of Revenue" bar relative to Revenue is the gross margin complement.

What is the difference between gross, operating, and net margin?

Gross margin = (Revenue − Cost of Revenue) ÷ Revenue. It measures production efficiency. Operating margin = Operating Income ÷ Revenue. It adds operating expenses (R&D, S&M, G&A) and measures the profitability of core operations. Net margin = Net Income ÷ Revenue. It also includes interest, other income/expense, and taxes, and represents the shareholder take after everything.

Nucor (NUE) Income Statement Waterfall

Revenue

$34.2B

Gross Margin

+14.0%

Operating Margin

+10.0%

Net Margin

+6.8%

Income statement waterfall for Nucor (NUE) — TTM through Q2 2026

Net income: $2.33B

Margin breakdown for Nucor (NUE) — TTM through Q2 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Revenue	$34.2B	$34.2B
Cost of Revenue	-$29.4B	$4.77B
Gross Profit	$4.77B	$4.77B
Operating Expenses	-$1.34B	$3.43B
Operating Income	$3.43B	$3.43B
Other Income / Expense	-$52M	$3.38B
Pre-tax Income	$3.38B	$3.38B
Income Tax	-$697M	$2.68B
Other Items	-$351M	$2.33B
Net Income	$2.33B	$2.33B

Revenue$34.2B
Cost of Revenue-$29.4B
Gross Profit$4.77B
Operating Expenses-$1.34B
Operating Income$3.43B
Other Income / Expense-$52M
Pre-tax Income$3.38B
Income Tax-$697M
Other Items-$351M
Net Income$2.33B

Want to see what changed vs last year?Profit Bridge

Frequently asked questions

Data & methodology

Nucor (NUE) Key Financials

Charts, filings, and peer comparison for every metric

Explore more

Deep-dives across the income statement, cash flow, capital return, and valuation

Overview

NUE Overview

Counters

Income Statement

Cash Flow

Capital Return

How this company returns cash to shareholders — buybacks, dividends, and stock splits.

Forecast & Valuation