Alcoa's Stock Tumbles After Profit And Sales Miss Expectations

Shares of Alcoa Inc. dropped 5.9% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the aluminum giant kicked off the third-quarter earnings season by missing profit and sales expectations. This will be the last quarterly report for Alcoa before it splits into two companies. Net earnings rose to $166 million, or 33 cents a share, from $44 million, or 6 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 32 cents, below the FactSet consensus of 33 cents. Revenue fell to $5.21 billion from $5.57, below the FactSet consensus of $5.33 billion. Alcoa said it expects a 2016 global aluminum deficit of 615,000 metric tons, as 5% demand growth surpasses 3% supply growth. In Alcoa's second-quarter report, the company expected 5% demand growth and 2.5% supply growth. "Alcoa steered steady and showed resilience in spite of near-term market challenges," said Chief Executive Klaus Kleinfeld. "Profits grew in the combined Arconic segments, and Alcoa Corporation segments managed successfully to stay profitable in a low pricing environment." The stock has rallied 6.4% year to date through Monday, outperforming the S&P 500 , which tacked on 5.9%.