Alcoa: It's All About the Aluminum Outlook

PITTSBURGH, Pa.(TheStreet) -- Analysts have been busy in recent weeks lowering expectations ahead of Alcoa'sAA earnings, but the bigger issue for investors is the Street divide over whether the situation will get worse before it gets better for the U.S. industrial bellwether. Alcoa is the first of the Dow stocks to report, and has also been the biggest loser on the Dow in 2010, the first time Alcoa has had this dubious distinction since 1998. Several analysts have slashed Alcoa earnings estimates by as much as 50% in the past few weeks as second quarter aluminum pricing final data made the wide range of Street expectations for Alcoa earnings out of date. There is still a high of 20 cents among analyst estimates for Alcoa earnings, but the Street consensus of 12 cents reflects the recent spate of Alcoa earnings revisions. The analyst lowest estimate for Alcoa is 9 cents. To read the rest, head over to TheStreet.com