Alcoa
Alcoa's revenue rose 7.9% to $12.8 billion in fiscal 2025. Its net margin was 9.0%, up from 0.5% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $567 million, up 1250.0%. It paid out $104 million in dividends and buybacks, 18% of free cash flow. The diluted share count rose 22.0%.
Net margin is net income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
What Alcoa does
Alcoa is a vertically integrated aluminum company. It mines bauxite, the ore aluminum comes from, refines the ore into alumina, smelts and casts aluminum metal, and generates energy. Through direct and indirect ownership, it has 25 operating locations in eight countries, mainly Australia, Brazil, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Spain and the United States. At the end of 2025 it had approximately 14,900 employees in 16 countries.
It reports two segments. The Alumina segment mostly holds the bauxite mines and alumina refineries and sells smelter-grade and other alumina. The Aluminum segment holds the smelting and casting operations and most of the company's energy assets. Alcoa sells to customers in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, China and other parts of Asia.
Aluminum is a commodity traded on the London Metal Exchange and priced daily, and alumina is priced against an index, so both prices swing and affect Alcoa's results. Alcoa competes with other bauxite miners, alumina suppliers, aluminum producers and makers of other materials such as steel and plastics. In 2025 it formed a joint venture to keep its San Ciprián complex in Spain running and sold its stake in a Saudi Arabia joint venture.
Its biggest risks, as it describes them
- Swings in aluminum and alumina prices, which it does not control.
- Competition across the aluminum supply chain, including from steel, plastics and other materials.
- Health, safety and environmental rules that could bring large claims and costs, including at waste storage sites.
- Climate change laws and the cost of cutting emissions.
- Debt, limits on funding capital projects, and the need to renegotiate union agreements as they expire.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2017 to 2025, earnings per share grew 14.4% a year and net income 19.5% a year, as new shares raised the share count by 40% and diluted each share's earnings.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Valuation
Two ways to value Alcoa yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from Alcoa's 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Alcoa's fiscal 2025 free cash flow of $567M, net cash of −$851M at December 31, 2025 and 261 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to Alcoa: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, 1.0% a year; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 12%: 11% for a cyclical or higher-risk business (Aluminum), plus 1 point for unsteady results (a loss in fiscal 2023); the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $38.70
- Value on these assumptions, against the last close
- —
- Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today
- —
- Everything after year 10, valued today
- —
- Plus net cash
- —
- Share of value from after year 10
How the value changes with two assumptions
Price-to-earnings (P/E) method
Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Alcoa's earnings per share of $4.81 (over the last four quarters). Each grows earnings for a year at the cash flow scenarios' rates and applies a multiple to next year's earnings: 12.5×, the middle of Alcoa's own P/E today, its peers' median and its sector's median (its peers' median) for the base scenario, 20% less and more for the cautious and optimistic ones. The price is brought back a year at 13%, 12% and 11%. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $38.70
- Value at this multiple, against the last close
- —
- Alcoa's P/E at the last close
- 8.0×
| Company | Last close | Earnings per share | P/E today |
|---|---|---|---|
| BallBALL | $64.45 | $3.52 | 18.3× |
| CrownCCK | $116.71 | $6.96 | 16.8× |
| Kaiser AluminumKALU | $105.47 | $12.94 | 8.2× |
| AlcoaAA | $38.70 | $4.81 | 8.0× |
| Century AluminumCENX | $31.80 | $5.79 | 5.5× |
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 1,814 | 1,363 | 944 | 1,138 | 1,597 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 1,802 | 1,807 | 1,867 | 2,595 | 2,448 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | −12 | 444 | 923 | 1,457 | 851 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | −0.0x | 0.3x | 6.0x | 1.3x | 0.5x |
| Debt to equity | 0.4x | 0.4x | 0.4x | 0.5x | 0.4x |
| Interest coverage | 7.2x | 7.6x | −4.5x | 2.9x | 7.7x |
| Current ratio | 1.6x | 1.8x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.4x |
| Quick ratio | 0.9x | 0.9x | 0.7x | 0.9x | 0.9x |
Insider trades
Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, no insider bought Alcoa shares on the open market, and 4 insiders sold $1.3 million.
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31, 2026 | Renato BacchiEVP & Chief Commercial Officer | Sold | 700 | $51.02 | $35,714 | Form 4 |
| Aug 27, 2026 | Tammi A JonesEVP & CHRO | Sold | 15,628 | $50.60 | $790,777 | Form 4 |
| Aug 17, 2026 | Andrew HastingsEVP & Gen. Counsel | Sold | 6,000 | $50.90 | $305,400 | Form 4 |
| Jul 22, 2026 | Matthew T ReedEVP, Chief Operations Officer | Sold | 4,600 | $46.82 | $215,372 | Form 4 |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Fail | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Fail | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Fail | Fail | Pass |
| Current ratio rose | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Share count didn't rise | Pass | Fail | Fail |
| Gross margin rose | — | — | — |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Fail | Pass | Pass |
| F-score | 3 of 8 | 5 of 8 | 6 of 8 |
| Accruals ratio | −5.1% | −4.0% | −0.2% |
Compare
Put Alcoa side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcoa | FY25 | 7.9% | — | 4.4% | 18.0% | 0.5x | 6 | |
| Kaiser Aluminum | FY25 | 11.5% | 5.6% | −0.8% | 7.7% | 3.4x | 7 | Compare |
| Century Aluminum | FY25 | 13.8% | 6.2% | 3.4% | — | — | — | Compare |
| Ball | FY25 | 11.6% | — | 6.0% | 10.3% | 2.8x | 6 | Compare |
| Crown | FY25 | 4.8% | 12.6% | 9.0% | 13.7% | 2.6x | 7 | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 9,318 | 11,652 | 13,403 | 10,433 | 9,286 | 12,152 | 12,451 | 10,551 | 11,895 | 12,831 |
| Revenue growth | −16.8% | 25.1% | 15.0% | −22.2% | −11.0% | 30.9% | 2.5% | −15.3% | 12.7% | 7.9% |
| Gross profit | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Research and development | 33 | 32 | 31 | 27 | 27 | 31 | 32 | 39 | 57 | 24 |
| Operating income | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Net income | −400 | 279 | 250 | −1,125 | −170 | 429 | −123 | −651 | 60 | 1,157 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | −2.19 | 1.49 | 1.33 | −6.07 | −0.91 | 2.26 | −0.68 | −3.65 | 0.26 | 4.37 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 183 | 187 | 189 | 185 | 186 | 190 | 181 | 178 | 214 | 261 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | −311 | 1,224 | 448 | 686 | 394 | 920 | 822 | 91 | 622 | 1,185 |
| Capital expenditure | 404 | 405 | 399 | 379 | 353 | 390 | 480 | 531 | 580 | 618 |
| Free cash flow | −715 | 819 | 49 | 307 | 41 | 530 | 342 | −440 | 42 | 567 |
| Dividends paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 72 | 72 | 89 | 104 |
| Share buybacks | 0 | 0 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 150 | 500 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stock-based compensation | 28 | 24 | 35 | 30 | 25 | 39 | 40 | 35 | 36 | 41 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 853 | 1,358 | 1,113 | 879 | 1,607 | 1,814 | 1,363 | 944 | 1,138 | 1,597 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 1,445 | 1,404 | 1,802 | 1,800 | 2,542 | 1,802 | 1,807 | 1,867 | 2,595 | 2,448 |
| Total assets | 16,741 | 17,447 | 16,132 | 14,631 | 14,860 | 15,025 | 14,756 | 14,155 | 14,064 | 16,129 |
| Total liabilities | 9,044 | 10,649 | 8,544 | 8,745 | 9,844 | 8,741 | 8,167 | 8,310 | 8,907 | 9,935 |
| Shareholders' equity | 5,654 | 4,523 | 5,618 | 4,112 | 3,311 | 4,672 | 5,076 | 4,251 | 5,157 | 6,118 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Net margin | −4.3% | 2.4% | 1.9% | −10.8% | −1.8% | 3.5% | −1.0% | −6.2% | 0.5% | 9.0% |
| Free cash flow margin | −7.7% | 7.0% | 0.4% | 2.9% | 0.4% | 4.4% | 2.8% | −4.2% | 0.3% | 4.4% |
| Return on capital | 0.7% | 8.6% | 12.6% | −3.3% | 2.5% | 11.4% | 6.1% | −5.5% | 3.3% | 18.0% |
| Return on equity | −5.3% | 5.5% | 4.9% | −23.1% | −4.6% | 10.8% | −2.5% | −14.0% | 1.3% | 20.5% |
| Return on assets | −2.4% | 1.6% | 1.5% | −7.3% | −1.1% | 2.9% | −0.8% | −4.5% | 0.4% | 7.7% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.7x | 0.0x | 0.3x | 2.3x | 1.0x | −0.0x | 0.3x | 6.0x | 1.3x | 0.5x |