Alcoa kicked off the much-watched third quarter earnings season with much better-than-expected results.
Analysts were calling for the No. 1 aluminum maker to report an adjusted five cents a share profit. Alcoa ended up reporting an adjusted profit of eleven cents a share or $120 million.
Meanwhile, revenue was expected to be down 3% to $5.6 billion. The company ended up reporting revenue of $5.8 billion, flat with the second quarter of 2013 and the year-ago period. That was a surprising result given that aluminum prices have fallen 7% from last year. Including all charges, the company reported a $44 million profit, reversing a year-ago loss.
"The Alcoa quarter ended up to be much better than most people would have expected," says William Selesky, analyst at Argus Research. "Investors were expecting more negative information but Alcoa came with more positive information. That's a good sign."
CORPORATE PROFITS: Companies, investors gear up for earnings season
For decades, Alcoa has been the unofficial kick off to earning season since it was the first member of the Dow Jones industrial average to report. But after getting removed from the Dow average last month, investors are wondering which company will mark the start of the season. All eyes are on the earnings report from J.P. Morgan, which is due out Thursday.
