Topic: Growth Stocks

The Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, October 9, 2009

Article Excerpt

ALCOA INC., $14.24, New York symbol AA, rose 10% this week after it reported better-than-expected earnings and sales. In the three months ended September 30, 2009, the aluminum maker earned $73 million, down 76.1% from $306 million a year earlier. Earnings per-share fell 81.1%, to $0.07 from $0.37, on more shares outstanding. Alcoa has seen weaker aluminum demand from clients in the automotive, aerospace and construction industries. In response, the company has consolidated plants and laid off workers. These moves should lower Alcoa’s costs by a total of $2.4 billion a year. If you exclude restructuring costs and a gain related to its increased investment in an alumina-refining operation in Suriname, the company would have earned $0.04 a share in the latest quarter. On that basis, analysts were expecting Alcoa to lose $0.10 a share. Sales fell 33.8%, to $4.6 billion from $7 billion. That’s mainly because Alcoa cut its production in response to falling aluminum prices, which are down 33% from the…