Alcoa Corporation (NYSE:AA) beat Wall Street’s revenue and earnings estimates for the third quarter and unveiled a $200 million share repurchase program late Wednesday, sending its shares up slightly in after-hours trading.
The bauxite and aluminum producer also projects deficits for aluminum and alumina this year and a surplus of bauxite.
On an adjusted basis, Alcoa reported net income of $119 million, or $0.63 per share, on revenue of $3.4 billion. Its results came in ahead of Wall Street’s estimate of $0.36 per share on revenue of $3.31 billion.
In response, investors sent Alcoa shares up 3% to $37.84 in Wednesday’s after-hours session.
“By reducing complexity, driving returns and strengthening the balance sheet we’ve made Alcoa a much stronger company even as commodity markets remain volatile,” CEO Roy Harvey said in a statement. “We’re pleased to announce a program to return cash to stockholders, and we look forward to improving our company further as 2018 comes to an end.”
Alcoa recently announced plans to close two of its three aluminum plants in Spain, which will result in the loss of nearly 700 workers. The Ailes and La Coruna plans were Alcoa’s two least productive plants.
If items aren’t stripped out, Alcoa lost $41 million, or $0.22 per share in the quarter, versus seeing earnings of $113 million, or $0.60 per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Contact Ellen Kelleher at ellen@proactiveinvestors.com