Alcoa (NYSE:AA) announced the first quarter earnings of this fiscal year after the U.S. stock market closed Tuesday, data show that the company posted a quarterly net profit of $94 million, equivalent to earnings per share of 9 cents, compared with the $308 million, or earnings per share of 29 cents in the same period last year.
The previous market surveys show that, analysts generally expected Alcoa to post a net loss of 3 cents per share for the first quarter of fiscal year 2012.
The Alcoa’s financial results show that as of the end of the first quarter ended March 31, 2012, the company booked $6.01 billion in revenues, slightly higher than last year’s $5.96 billion. The company also expected that the global aluminum demand will continue to appear a 7% year-on-year increase in 2012.
Driven by the better than expected financial performance, Alcoa stock price rose 5 percent, or $0.47, to finish at $9.79 in the after-hours trading, completely reversing 3 percent decline in Tuesday’s regular trading.