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10-09-2006, 04:50 PM
Yahoo Finance Investing Strategies
Motley Fool
Foolish Forecast: Awaiting Alcoa
Monday October 9, 2:10 pm ET
By Rich Smith
Tic-tac-toe, investors want to know: After beating estimates in its fiscal first and second quarters, can aluminum kingpin Alcoa (NYSE: AA - News) make it three in a row for earnings beats when it reports its fiscal Q3 2006 numbers tomorrow morning?
What analysts say:
Buy, sell, or waffle? Eighteen analysts follow Alcoa. Of these, 10 say to buy the stock, seven more vote hold, and only one counsels selling.
Revenues. On average, analysts will be looking for 17% revenue growth tomorrow, for a total of nearly $7.7 billion in sales.
Earnings. Profits are expected to more than double to $0.77 per share.
What management says:
Summarizing the results of a superb quarter three months ago, CEO Alain Belda called Q2 "another great quarter, no matter how you measure it," continuing that Alcoa's "results for the first half of 2006 were greater than any full year in the history of Alcoa, except for one." Belda then responded to cynics who might argue that, sure, the quarter was great, but cyclical companies like Alcoa by definition have some great quarters, as demand for their products surges, only to be followed by lousy quarters when demand ebbs. He argued: "Have we benefited from high metal price? Sure, we did. But more importantly, we believe that we have locked in productivity gains across many businesses ..."
Belda then moved on to head off disappointment with his company's third-quarter numbers -- three months before it could arise. He noted that sequential increases in sales and profits were unlikely to be seen in tomorrow's results, due to the simple fact that Q3 is a seasonally weak quarter at Alcoa. That said, he did promise investors results that would show "a much higher level of profitability than in prior years."
What management does:
complete article here... (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/finance/news/rss/story/*http://biz.yahoo.com/fool/061009/116041742709.html?.v=1)
Motley Fool
Foolish Forecast: Awaiting Alcoa
Monday October 9, 2:10 pm ET
By Rich Smith
Tic-tac-toe, investors want to know: After beating estimates in its fiscal first and second quarters, can aluminum kingpin Alcoa (NYSE: AA - News) make it three in a row for earnings beats when it reports its fiscal Q3 2006 numbers tomorrow morning?
What analysts say:
Buy, sell, or waffle? Eighteen analysts follow Alcoa. Of these, 10 say to buy the stock, seven more vote hold, and only one counsels selling.
Revenues. On average, analysts will be looking for 17% revenue growth tomorrow, for a total of nearly $7.7 billion in sales.
Earnings. Profits are expected to more than double to $0.77 per share.
What management says:
Summarizing the results of a superb quarter three months ago, CEO Alain Belda called Q2 "another great quarter, no matter how you measure it," continuing that Alcoa's "results for the first half of 2006 were greater than any full year in the history of Alcoa, except for one." Belda then responded to cynics who might argue that, sure, the quarter was great, but cyclical companies like Alcoa by definition have some great quarters, as demand for their products surges, only to be followed by lousy quarters when demand ebbs. He argued: "Have we benefited from high metal price? Sure, we did. But more importantly, we believe that we have locked in productivity gains across many businesses ..."
Belda then moved on to head off disappointment with his company's third-quarter numbers -- three months before it could arise. He noted that sequential increases in sales and profits were unlikely to be seen in tomorrow's results, due to the simple fact that Q3 is a seasonally weak quarter at Alcoa. That said, he did promise investors results that would show "a much higher level of profitability than in prior years."
What management does:
complete article here... (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/finance/news/rss/story/*http://biz.yahoo.com/fool/061009/116041742709.html?.v=1)