Alcoa Corporation (AA, Financials) reported robust financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2024, but its stock fell 3.58% on Thursday, closing at $37.39, down $1.39 as of 1:38 PM GMT-5.
Driven by better alumina and aluminum prices, the business reported fourth-quarter sales of $3.49 billion, a 20% sequential rise. Comparatively to $90 million, or $0.38 per share, net income jumped 124% sequentially to $202 million, or $0.76 per share.
With exceptional items of $74 million excluded, adjusted net income grew to $276 million, or $1.04 per share. Eliminating extraordinary items, adjusted EBITDA climbed 49% sequentially to $677 million.
Alcoa's income grew 13% to $11.9 billion during the whole year, driven by an average realized alumina price jump of 32%. Reversing a $405 million loss in 2023, adjusted net income came to $296 million. Reflecting operational improvements and excellent market circumstances, adjusted EBITDA for the year came to $1.6 billion.
With $675 million in savings, CEO William F. Oplinger stressed key benchmarks including exceeding the $645 million profitability improvement objective. Along with completing the purchase of Alumina Limited and declaring the sale of a 25.1% share in the Ma'aden joint ventures, the business also established output records at five smelters.
Though the stock shows good financial performance, its drop on Thursday points to cautious market mood maybe resulting from potential production difficulties including the predicted effect of the Kwinana refinery slowdown.
While aluminum output is expected to climb with exports of 2.6 to 2.8 million metric tons, Alcoa projects 2025 alumina production to drop to between 9.5 and 9.7 million metric tons.