Why Alcoa Shares Are Falling Sharply During Wednesday's After-Hours Session

Alcoa Corp AA shares are trading lower by 8.00% to $34.61 after the company reported worse-than-expected third-quarter EPS results.

What Happened?

Alcoa reported quarterly losses of 33 cents per share which missed the analyst consensus estimate of 13 cents profit.

The company also reported quarterly sales of $2.85 billion, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $2.94 billion by 3%. This sales figure represents an 8% decrease over sales of $3.11 billion in the same period last year.

Alcoa also today announced that its Board of Directors had declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per share of the company's common stock, to be paid on November 18 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on November 1.

"Across Alcoa, we have worked diligently over these past several years to build increased resilience in our business so we can compete through all phases of the commodity cycle, including the one we are experiencing now," said Alcoa President and CEO Roy Harvey.

"Despite a challenging quarter that saw significantly lower prices, and high costs for energy and raw materials, we maintained a strong balance sheet, including transferring pension obligations and returning cash to our stockholders," Harvey said. 

"As we move forward, we are keenly focused on the items within our direct control, including boosting operational stability, advancing our breakthrough technologies and continuing to promote our sustainable product offerings so we can benefit from the positive, long-term fundamentals for the aluminum industry."

According to data from Benzinga Pro, Alcoa has a 52-week high of $98.09 and a 52-week low of $33.55.