Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (KALU) Stock

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (KALU) is a Materials stock trading at $162.68 (as of 2026-09-02), with a market capitalization of $2.66B and a trailing P/E of 11.7. Figures are sourced from first-party U.S. SEC EDGAR filings and market data.

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation engages in manufacture and sale of semi-fabricated specialty aluminum mill products in the United States and internationally. The company offers rolled, extruded, and drawn aluminum products used for aerospace and defense, aluminum beverage and food packaging, automotive and general engineering products. The company's automotive extrusions include extruded aluminum products for structural components, crash management systems, anti-lock braking systems, and drawn tubes for drive shafts, as well as offers fabrication services, including sawing and cutting to length. Its packaging products consist of bare and coated 3000- and 5000-series alloy aluminum coil used for beverage and food packaging industry; and Its general engineering products comprise alloy plate, sheet, rod, bar, tube, wire, and standard extrusion shapes used in various applications, including the production of military vehicles, ordnances, semiconductor manufacturing cells, electronic devices, after-market motor sport parts, tooling plates, parts for machinery and equipment, bolts, screws, nails, and rivets. In addition, it offers rerolled, extruded, drawn, and cast billet aluminum products for industrial end uses. It sells its products directly to customers through sales personnel located in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and China, as well as through independent sales agents in other regions of Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California.

Understand Kaiser Aluminum Corporation: how it makes money

Kaiser Aluminum makes specialty aluminum products (rolled sheets, extrusions, drawn tubes) for aerospace, packaging, automotive, and general engineering, earning a conversion fee on top of metal pass-through pricing. Three-quarters of revenue is commodity metal at cost, so the real profit is the conversion spread on roughly 290 million pounds shipped per quarter.

The profit model is a thin conversion fee (about $1.24 per pound) layered on commodity aluminum pass-through, so earnings swing with metal-lag timing and any plant disruption hits the spread directly.

Business quality (Solid): A 9.5x P/E alongside a 28% ROE and a 'Solid' business grade looks attractive, but 11% operating margins on a semi-fabricated metal model leave limited cushion if conversion fees compress or metal prices move against the lag spread.

Valuation: At 10× earnings, KALU trades 56% below the Steel Works average (22×). Note: the low multiple may reflect one-time earnings items.

Bull case

  • Packaging mix drives double-digit growth: Management pointed to a 20%-25% packaging conversion revenue growth trajectory with further operating leverage, making the largest value-add segment a genuine growth engine rather than a static volume line.
  • Valuation lags sector by over half: The stock trades at 9.5x earnings versus the 22x Steel Works industry average, a 56% discount, even with quarterly revenue of $1.3B up 53% year over year and a 28% ROE.
  • Demand breadth reduces single-platform risk: Management highlighted that demand is strengthening across multiple end markets rather than relying on one platform, and raised General Engineering conversion revenue guidance to 10%-15% growth, adding a second growth vector beside packaging.

Bear case

  • Metal-lag boost fades in H2: Management explicitly noted that metal-lag tailwinds are not expected to continue in the second half, meaning the 53% revenue growth is not a sustainable run-rate and the 16% gross margin will face a normalizing test.
  • Warrick drags on delivery execution: The Warrick aluminum plant still has unresolved equipment issues and delivery performance remains below management's 90% goal, a concrete operational risk on the company's largest conversion revenue line.
  • Auto volumes eroding under price tags: Automotive revenue came in flat despite an 11% shipment decline, meaning higher per-pound pricing is masking volume loss in a segment that may continue to shed structural demand as EVs reduce aluminum content.
Valuation — source: SEC EDGAR (first-party)
Price$162.68
Market Cap$2.66B
P/E Ratio11.7
EV / EBITDA7.8
Price / Book2.82
Price / Sales0.64
FCF Yield-1.0%
DCF Value (model)$17.92
DCF Upside vs Price-89.0%
Profitability & Growth — source: SEC EDGAR
Revenue (TTM)$3.37B
Net Margin3.3%
Revenue Growth (YoY)52.7%
EPS Growth (YoY)311.1%
FCF Growth (YoY)-1264.0%
Financial Health — source: SEC EDGAR
Altman Z-Score2.94 (grey)
Piotroski F-Score7/9 (strong)
Valuation vs Sector & Industry
Stock P/E11.7
Sector P/E (Materials)23.9
Industry P/E (Steel Works)21.0
vs Sector-51.0%
vs Industry-44.3%
Smart-Money Activity — SEC Form 4 / 13F / Congressional disclosures
Top Institutional HolderBlackRock, Inc. ($342.60M)
Institutional Holders Tracked10
Company
SectorMaterials
IndustrySteel Works
CEOKeith A. Harvey
Employees3,900
CountryUS
IPO Date2006-07-07

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation earnings call transcripts

  • KALU Q2 FY26 earnings call transcript (reported 2026-07-22) · analysis
  • KALU Q4 FY25 earnings call transcript (reported 2026-02-18) · analysis

All KALU earnings calls

Related Companies (Steel Works; 8 comparable companies)

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  • Tronox Holdings plc (TROX)
  • Core Natural Resources, Inc. (CNR)
  • Century Aluminum Company (CENX)
KALU earnings history · KALU institutional & insider holders · KALU KPIs & operating metrics · KALU financials · KALU investor presentations & press releases · KALU SEC filings · KALU peers · Congress trades · Insider trades · Short interest · Stock screener

Data as of 2026-09-02.

Figures sourced from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC EDGAR) filings and market data. Not personalized investment advice.