Alcoa vs Century Aluminum
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Alcoa and Century Aluminum side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Alcoa is the larger business, with $12.8B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.5B for Century Aluminum, about 5.1 times as much.
- Century Aluminum grew revenue faster (13.9%, against 7.9%).
- Alcoa turned more of its sales into free cash flow (4.4% FCF margin, against 3.4%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Alcoa’s earnings: a P/E of 7.9x against 5.4x for Century Aluminum.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 6 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Alcoa
AA
3/6
Net marginFCF marginReturn on equity
Century Aluminum
CENX
3/6
Revenue growth5-year growthShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | AA FY25 | CENX FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $10.1B | $3.3B |
| Revenue | $12.8B | $2.5B |
| Free cash flow | $567M | $84.8M |
| Net income | $1.2B | $41.8M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 7.9% | 13.9% |
| 5-year growth | 6.7% | 9.5% |
| Share count change | 22.0% | −3.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 10.1% |
| Operating margin | — | 6.3% |
| Net margin | 9.0% | 1.7% |
| FCF margin | 4.4% | 3.4% |
| Return on capital | 18.0% | — |
| Return on equity | 20.5% | 5.6% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $851M | — |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.5x | — |
| Dividends and buybacks | $104M | $0.0M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 7.9x | 5.4x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | — |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.