Alcoa's (AA +0.00%) stock shot up 5% yesterday after it reported strong second quarter earnings. Going into the quarter analysts expected Alcoa to report earnings of $0.12 per share and revenue of $5.66 billion. Alcoa, however, blew past both numbers as it reported earnings excluding special items of $0.18 per share, which was above even what the most optimistic analyst had projected. On top of that, the company reported revenue of $5.8 billion, which is up 7% from just last quarter.
However, it wasn't just the strong earnings beat that impressed investors. It was the fact that the company delivered on all three of its key areas that is fueling this latest surge. To provide investors more details on these key areas, I created the following slide show. It details the main reasons why Alcoa is firing on all cylinders these days, as well as why the company looks to be heading in the right direction for future gains.
