Alcoa Corporation (AA)

Alcoa reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $3.7 billion and net income attributable to the company of $483 million, or $1.81 per share, on 15 October 2026 2.

Revenue fell 7 percent from the second quarter, because a 9 percent drop in the Aluminum segment outweighed a 7 percent rise in the Alumina segment 2.

Cash from operations was $643 million, and the company ended the quarter with $4.4 billion of cash, including $2.6 billion of financing obtained to buy South32 interests 2.

The open question is whether the South32 purchase closes: South32 shareholders approved it on 15 October 2026, and Alcoa expects to close in the first half of 2027 2.

The deal adds South32 mines, refineries and smelters in Australia, Brazil and South Africa for an upfront consideration of about $4.1 billion in cash and stock 4.

Alcoa also agreed to sell parts of its Massena East site in New York, and expects about $50 million to $65 million at closing 2.

Alcoa began as The Pittsburgh Reduction Company, incorporated in 1888, to make aluminum by the electrolysis method Charles Martin Hall discovered in 1886 6.

It grew by finding uses for a cheap new metal: cookware in 1895, engine parts for the Wright brothers' 1903 Flyer, and aluminum foil in 1910 6.

It became The Aluminum Company of America in 1907, listed its stock on the New York Curb Exchange in 1925, and took the short name Alcoa as its official name in 1998 6.

Research and safety shaped the middle decades: the first aerospace alloy in 1916, a research laboratory in 1930, and a safety push from 1987 led by chief executive Paul O’Neill 6.

In 2016, after 128 years as one vertically integrated company, Alcoa split in two: the mining, refining, smelting and power businesses kept the Alcoa name, and the fabrication businesses became Arconic 6.

The new Alcoa became an independent, publicly traded company on 1 November 2016, and its former parent was renamed Arconic and later Howmet Aerospace 1.

In 2018 Alcoa and Rio Tinto formed ELYSIS, a venture built on an Alcoa smelting technology that gives off oxygen in place of direct greenhouse gases 1.

Those years were hard on results, because aluminum and alumina are traded commodities and their prices swing, which the company says influences its operating results 1.

In March 2021 Alcoa sold its Warrick rolling mill in Indiana to Kaiser Aluminum, and in 2022 it cut San Ciprián refinery output in Spain because of high natural gas costs 1.

On 1 August 2024 Alcoa completed the purchase of Alumina Limited, which had owned 40 percent of the AWAC mining and refining venture that Alcoa ran with 60 percent 1.

In 2025 Alcoa sold its 25.1 percent stake in the Saudi Arabian venture to Ma’aden for Ma’aden shares and cash, and announced the permanent closure of the Kwinana refinery in Australia 1.

Sales rose to $12,831 million in 2025 from $11,895 million in 2024, as average aluminum prices rose 9 percent and average alumina prices fell 11 percent 1.

Net income attributable to Alcoa was a loss of $651 million in 2023, income of $60 million in 2024 and income of $1,157 million in 2025 1.

Alumina and bauxite

Alumina is a compound of aluminum and oxygen refined from bauxite ore, and smelters use it as the raw material for aluminum metal 1.

Alcoa-run and partner mines produced 37.5 million dry metric tons of bauxite in 2025, and the company's refineries have 11,653,000 metric tons a year of consolidated capacity 1.

Third-party alumina sales were $3,710 million against $4,281 million the year before, and third-party bauxite sales rose to $737 million from $381 million 1.

Alcoa's own smelters took about 34 percent of its alumina shipments in 2025, which makes them its largest customer for smelter grade alumina 1.

Aluminum

Smelters turn alumina into molten aluminum, and casthouses cast it into ingot, billet, rod and slab for makers of transportation, building, packaging and wire products 1.

Aluminum production was 2,319 thousand metric tons in 2025 against 2,215 thousand in 2024, and third-party aluminum sales were $8,515 million against $7,359 million 1.

Its smelters stand in Canada, Iceland, Norway, Spain, Australia, Brazil and the United States, with consolidated capacity of 2,645,000 metric tons a year 1.

Plants and people

Alcoa has 25 operating locations across eight countries and about 14,900 employees in 16 countries 1.

William Oplinger has been chief executive since 24 September 2023, and Molly Beerman has been chief financial officer since 1 February 2023 1.

Rivals and current problems

Alcoa says it is the largest alumina producer outside China, and it names South32, Rio Tinto and Glencore among alumina rivals, beside a growing number of refineries in China and Indonesia 1.

Total Section 232 tariff costs on aluminum imports were $571 million in 2025, which the company links to a Midwest premium that covered the tariff cost on Canadian metal 1.

Delays in mine approvals in Western Australia led Alcoa to begin mining lower grade bauxite in April 2023, which raised refinery costs and cut alumina output 1.

The umbrella, in words

Alcoa owns 74.95 percent of the Bécancour smelter in Québec through a joint venture with Rio Tinto, which owns the remaining 25.05 percent 1.

Alcoa holds 48.235 percent of ELYSIS, the venture formed in 2018 to commercialize its inert anode smelting technology, with Rio Tinto at 48.235 percent and Investissement Québec at 3.53 percent 1.

Alcoa owns 75 percent of the San Ciprián operations in Spain and keeps the role of operator, while Trento EQT owns 25 percent 1.

Alcoa also holds 85,977,547 shares of Ma’aden received in the 2025 sale of its Saudi Arabian venture, and it must keep them for at least three years 1.

Alcoa is a minority owner of Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée, which operates the Boké bauxite mine in Guinea, where Alcoa’s ownership interest is 22.95 percent 1.

Alcoa expects to close the South32 purchase in the first half of 2027, after South32 shareholder approval on 15 October 2026 and the required regulatory approvals 23.

Alcoa has also agreed to pay South32 up to $750 million in cash if average alumina and aluminum prices pass agreed strike levels in any of four annual periods starting 1 July 2026 3.

To fund the cash part of about $3.1 billion, Alcoa's subsidiaries sold $1.5 billion of 6.625 percent notes due 2034 and $1.1 billion of 6.875 percent notes due 2036 on 23 September 2026 5.

If the purchase has not closed by 29 June 2027, or the agreement ends, those notes must be redeemed at 100 percent of their principal amount 5.

The company expects the South32 assets to generate synergies of about $900 million in net present value and to add to earnings per share and free cash flow right after closing 4.

For 2026 Alcoa reaffirmed its plan for 9.5 to 9.6 million metric tons of alumina production and 2.4 to 2.6 million metric tons of aluminum production 2.

Alcoa expects interest expense of about $185 million for the year, higher than before because of the new notes 2.

It expects the Massena East sale to close within six months, subject to permitting and regulatory approvals, and ELYSIS targets first production by 2027 21.