Century Aluminum (Nasdaq: CENX) reported earnings on Nov. 1. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Sep. 30 (Q3), Century Aluminum beat expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped and GAAP loss per share expanded.

Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
 Century Aluminum tallied revenue of $304.6 million. The seven analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted a top line of $297.7 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 12% lower than the prior-year quarter's $345.6 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
 EPS came in at -$0.27. The 11 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated -$0.26 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.14 for Q3 compared to -$0.07 per share for the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
 For the quarter, gross margin was 1.1%, 220 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -4.4%, 460 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -3.9%, 200 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $315.5 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.07.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.26 billion. The average EPS estimate is -$0.56.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 441 members out of 480 rating the stock outperform, and 39 members rating it underperform. Among 120 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 113 give Century Aluminum a green thumbs-up, and seven give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Century Aluminum is hold, with an average price target of $8.13.

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