Century Aluminum's Q1 Earnings and Revenues Miss Estimates

Century Aluminum Company CENX reported earnings of 28 cents per share for the first quarter of 2025, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 53 cents. The figure compares favorably with the prior-year quarter’s loss of 39 cents per share but falls behind earnings of 47 cents per share in the previous quarter.

Century Aluminum Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Century Aluminum Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Century Aluminum Company Quote

CENX’s Revenues and Shipments

The company reported net sales of $633.9 million, up 29.5% year over year. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $643.8 million. Sales increased 0.5% sequentially.

The sequential increase in sales in the first quarter was due to higher LME aluminum prices, higher regional premiums, and favorable volume and mix, partially offset by a decrease in third-party alumina sales.

Primary aluminum shipments were 168,672 tons, down around 3.4% year over year.

(Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

CENX’s Financials

At the end of the quarter, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $44.9 million, up 36.5% from the previous quarter ended Dec. 31, 2024. Net cash provided by operating activities was $72.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2025.

CENX’s Q2 2025 Outlook

The company forecasts second-quarter 2025 adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $80 million to $90 million, with increased Midwest regional premium and lower energy costs partly offset by planned major maintenance and seasonal labor expenses.  

CENX Stock’s Price Performance

Shares of Century Aluminum have risen 0.6% in the past year compared with the industry’s 10.2% growth.

CENX’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

CENX currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Some better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Brenntag SE BNTGY, Contango Ore, Inc. CTGO and CSW Industrials, Inc. CSWI. While BNTGY and CTGO sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each, CSWI carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

BNTGY is slated to report first-quarter results on May 14. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Brenntag’sfirst-quarter earnings is pegged at 24 cents per share.

Contango is scheduled to report first-quarter results on May 14. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CTGO’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at a loss of 32 cents per share. CTGO’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters while missing in one, with the average surprise being 213.7%.

CSW Industrialsis slated to release fiscal fourth-quarter results on May 22. The consensus estimate for CSWI’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at $2.23. CSWI delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 10.1%, on average.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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