By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Shares of Alcoa Inc. gained Tuesday evening as the aluminum producer’s adjusted earnings outpaced Wall Street’s projections, and shares of Yum Brands Inc. climbed as the fast-food chains operator bumped up its yearly outlook.
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Alcoa shares /quotes/zigman/246295/quotes/nls/aa AA -4.11% advanced 0.3% to $9.16, but were off session highs, as the company said its third-quarter earnings excluding charges were 3 cents a share. That figure was better than the FactSet consensus estimate for Alcoa to break even on a per-share basis. Sales fell 8% to $5.8 billion because of lower metal prices, but sales were higher than the $5.56 billion analysts had expected.
On a net basis, Alcoa swung to a net loss of $143 million, or 13 cents a share. In the year-ago period, the company earned $172 million, or 15 cents a share. Citing a slowdown in China, Alcoa lowered its 2012 forecast for global aluminum demand to 6% from 7%. Alcoa is seen as a measure of health in global manufacturing as its products are used by the construction and auto industries, among others. See: Alcoa swings to third-quarter loss on charges.
Alcoa’s results unofficially launched the start of the third-quarter earnings season as Alcoa is the first of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/zigman/627449 DJIA -0.97% to release financial results.
Taco Bell
Yum shares /quotes/zigman/303422/quotes/nls/yum YUM +8.21% gained 4% to $68.67 after the operator of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut boosted its full-year, per-share target to a growth rate of at least 13%, or $3.24 a share.
Yum’s third-quarter profit jumped to $471 million, or $1 a share, on the period, from $383 million, or 80 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago, aided by brisk growth in China and the U.S., along with higher margins world-wide. Revenue rose to $3.57 billion, up from $3.27 billion.
Global growth concerns came to the fore Tuesday after the International Monetary Fund cut growth outlooks world-wide, a move that put pressure on U.S. equities. See: U.S. stocks drop on earnings caution, IMF.
Ahead of the late session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/zigman/627449 DJIA -0.97% dropped 110 points, or 0.8%, to 13,473.53. The S&P 500 Index /quotes/zigman/3870025 SPX -0.63% declined 1% to 1,441.48 and the Nasdaq Composite /quotes/zigman/123127 COMP -0.45% lost 1.5% to 3,065.02.
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