Alcoa Inc. The Pittsburgh aluminum maker said Thursday its net income slid about 21 percent in the third quarter on higher foreign exchange and energy costs.
The company reported net income of $61 million, or 6 cents per share, for the three-month period ended Sept. 30. That compares with earnings of $77 million, or 8 cents per share for the same period last year. Revenue increased 14.6 percent to $5.3 billion. The results beat Wall Street expectations of 5 cents a share on revenue of $4.95 billion.
Alcoa, which supplies a variety of manufacturers including the auto and aerospace industries, is one of the first companies to report financial results for the quarter, and economists use its results to get an early read on the health of the economy.
Chairman and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said he sees signs that the global economy continues to recover from the recession. Alcoa increased its aluminum consumption forecast to 13 percent from 12 percent for 2010.
Alcoa shares rose 35 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $12.55 in after-hours trading.
PepsiCo Inc. The company's third-quarter net income rose 12 percent on strong sales gains in drinks and Frito-Lay snacks abroad, but shares fell after the company lowered the top end of its guidance because of investments to expand its presence overseas.
Shares fell $2.01, or 3 percent, to $65.10 in heavy volume Thursday.
The company also said it expects to be hurt by changes in currency exchange rates, which happens to businesses with interests abroad.
The company's results met expectations and continued to benefit from PepsiCo's buyout of its two largest North American bottlers earlier this year.
Pepsi earned $1.92 billion, or $1.19 per share, in the three months ending Sept. 4. That compares with earnings of $1.72 billion, or $1.09 per share, in the same period last year.
Without one-time items including charges to integrate its bottlers, the company earned $1.22 per share, in line with analyst estimates, according to Thomson Reuters.
Revenue rose 40 percent to $15.51 billion on gains abroad and the bottler acquisition, beating analyst estimates of $15.38 billion.
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