Nucor CEO Leon Topalian Exercises Options and Sells Shares

What Happened
Leon J. Topalian, Chair and CEO of Nucor Corporation (NUE), exercised employee stock options to acquire 26,000 shares on Aug 14, 2026 at an exercise price of $42.46 per share (cost $1,103,960). On the same day he sold a total of 26,000 shares in open-market transactions — 25,898 shares at a weighted-average price of $268.52 (proceeds $6,954,079; prices ranged $268.165–$269.130) and 102 shares at a weighted-average $269.29 (proceeds $27,468; prices ranged $269.275–$269.290) — for total sales proceeds of about $6,981,547. He also made a gift of 1,800 shares on Aug 17, 2026. The sequence (exercise followed by same-day sale) is consistent with a cashless exercise of options.

Key Details

• Transaction dates and prices:
  • Aug 14, 2026: Exercised 26,000 options at $42.46 (total cost $1,103,960). (Code M; employee stock option — F4.)
  • Aug 14, 2026: Sold 25,898 shares at weighted avg $268.52 (proceeds $6,954,079). (Footnote F1: prices ranged $268.165–$269.130.)
  • Aug 14, 2026: Sold 102 shares at weighted avg $269.29 (proceeds $27,468). (Footnote F2: prices ranged $269.275–$269.290.)
  • Aug 17, 2026: Gifted 1,800 shares (no proceeds).
• Net proceeds (approx.): Sales ~$6.981M minus exercise cost ~$1.104M = ~$5.88M before taxes/fees.
• Shares owned after transaction: Not explicitly stated in the excerpt. Filing notes a $364,917.61 balance in the Nucor Stock Fund in the Nucor Profit Sharing Plan as of Aug 14, 2026 (F3).
• Footnotes: F1–F2 explain weighted-average sale prices and price ranges; F3 notes plan balance; F4 confirms these were employee stock options.
• Filing timeliness: Transactions occurred Aug 14, 2026; Form 4 was filed Aug 19, 2026. That is beyond the typical 2-business-day reporting window, so the filing appears late.

Context

• M = exercise/conversion of derivative; F4 identifies the award as employee stock options (right to buy). Because Topalian exercised and sold the same number of shares on the same day, this functions as a cashless exercise (common to cover exercise cost and withholding).
• The Aug 17 gift is a non-sale transfer and does not by itself indicate market sentiment.
• These are routine insider transactions by an executive; purchases are generally more indicative of bullish conviction, while exercises followed by sales are often liquidity/tax-related.