UPDATE 3-Steelmaker Nucor Q1 profit tops Wall St view

* Q1 earnings 10 cents/share vs Wall St view 6 cents

* Revenue rises 38 pct to $3.65 bln

* CEO sees real demand growing, but little stimulus

* Stock rises slightly

(Adds CEO comments, stock moves, byline)

By Matt Daily and Steve James

NEW YORK , April 22 (Reuters) - Steelmaker Nucor Corp (NUE.N) posted a first-quarter profit on Thursday that topped analysts' estimates, as increased orders offset a modest decline in prices.

But although demand for steel is improving, it is still nowhere near pre-recession levels of 18 months ago and government stimulus packages have done little to boost public works projects, said Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Dan DiMicco said.

"Somewhat improved economic and steel market conditions remain challenging and volatile. That's to say the least!" he told Wall Street analysts on a conference call.

"We are not seeing a lot of commercial construction and nonresidential construction. And so it's a concern and it should be a concern for everybody and anybody that says it's not an issue is kidding themselves," DiMicco said.

Nucor said net earnings for the first quarter were $31 million, or 10 cents per share, compared with a loss of $189.6 million, or 60 cents per share in the same quarter of 2009. Revenue rose 38 percent to $3.65 billion.

Analysts, on average, expected earnings of 6 cents per share and revenue of $3.6 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Following the results, analyst Leo Larkin of Standard & Poor's Equity Research, raised Nucor's investment rating to "buy" from "hold" and the stock's 12-month target price to $54 from $47.

"It's reassuring to see them solidly back in the black and I'm optimistic that we'll see a nicer number for the second quarter," said Michelle Applebaum, an analyst with Steel Market Intelligence.

Nucor's steel mill utilization rate rose to about 73 percent in the quarter from 58 percent in the fourth quarter and 45 percent a year earlier. Shipments rose 68 percent from a year earlier to 4.7 million tons, while the average sales price per ton slipped 7 percent.

Second-quarter earnings will show improvement from the first quarter, the company said, although residential and nonresidential construction remained a weak spot.

DiMicco told the analysts that, for the first time in over a year, there appeared to be real demand, rather than apparent demand from customers simply rebuilding inventories.

"In general we see that our orders tied to real demand now. There is not so much of a differences between apparent and real demand," he said.

Asked if government stimulus packages had helped with public projects to build roads and infrastructure, the Nucor chief was dismissive.

"We've got a long way to go before stimulus dollars or any kind of programs have an impact," he said.

Of the $800 billion first stimulus package, only $60 billion was in conventional infrastructure and job creation, DiMicco said. Projects were not only held up by planning delays but also by a lack of revenue states have to match federal funding.

"So we are basically nowhere and it's been a year plus since that passed."

Nucor's shares closed up 16 cents at $45.27 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Matt Daily and Steve James; editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Derek Caney and Andre Grenon)