Kaiser Aluminum Sales Hit $1.21 Billion, Net Income Falls To $31 Million, 2026 EBITDA Growth Seen At Lower End
Kaiser kept its 45% to 55% adjusted EBITDA growth outlook but now expects results toward the lower end, and a CEO handoff is set for November 1.
Kaiser Aluminum's third-quarter net sales rose to $1.21 billion from $844 million a year earlier, while net income fell to $31 million, or $1.84 per diluted share, from $40 million, or $2.38. The company's 8-K filed Wednesday kept its full-year adjusted EBITDA growth outlook of 45% to 55% but said results are now expected toward the lower end.
What the quarter showed
Adjusted EBITDA, the company's profit measure before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, rose 3% to $84 million. Its margin, measured against conversion revenue, slipped to 19.1% from 23.2%.
Conversion revenue, which is net sales minus the cost of metal, rose 25% to $439 million, mainly on pricing and product mix. Shipments grew 11%, the company said. Operating income was $55 million, up 13%.
Metal price lag, the timing gap between aluminum costs and market prices, was an unfavorable $1.0 million versus a favorable $28.0 million a year earlier. The company also cited about 640 basis points of margin impact from lower scrap use and operating inefficiencies, chiefly the planned partial outage at Bellwood and roll coat start-up costs in packaging.
CEO Keith A. Harvey said the comparison was "significantly affected by the higher favorable metal price lag reflected in the prior year quarter."
Outlook, balance sheet and CEO handoff
Management still expects conversion revenue growth at the high end of its 10% to 15% range. For adjusted EBITDA, it pointed to planned outages, execution performance, customer year-end inventory alignment and metal-related headwinds as reasons results should come in toward the lower end of the range.
Net debt leverage improved to 2.0x at September 30 from 3.4x at December 31, 2025. Moody's upgraded the company's credit rating to Ba3 with a stable outlook on October 2. Liquidity was $687 million, including $117 million of cash, and nothing was drawn on the revolving credit facility.
For the first nine months, operating cash flow was $248 million and free cash flow $176 million. A quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share is payable November 13 to holders of record on October 23.
Fred Stephan succeeds Harvey as president and CEO and joins the board on November 1. Harvey becomes Executive Chairman and a special advisor through October 31, 2027.
What to watch
Management hosts a conference call Thursday at 10:00 a.m. ET. KALU closed at $153.95 on Wednesday, up 0.92% in the regular session, which ended before the results came out.
Stephan takes over on November 1, with the lower-end EBITDA outlook as his starting point.
Sources
- 8-K Filing — KAISER ALUMINUM CORP (KALU) — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit kalu-ex99_1.htm — KAISER ALUMINUM CORP 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
