CENX

Century Aluminum is a pure-play primary-aluminum producer, and its financials show exactly the extreme cyclicality that implies. Net income has whipsawed across the cycle: -$167M (FY2021), -$14M (FY2022), -$43M (FY2023), +$337M (FY2024), and +$41.8M (FY2025). The FY2025 net income fell 87.6% year over year, but that comparison is misleading — the FY2024 figure was inflated by non-operating items, while FY2025's underlying operations actually improved markedly: revenue grew 13.9% to $2.53B, gross profit rose 49.1% to $256M, operating income climbed 45.8% to $158M, and operating cash flow surged to $185M (from a small base). Cash quadrupled to $134M and equity grew 16.0% to $806M.

So the operating trajectory is improving even as headline net income looks weak. The problem for an investor is that none of this is durable or predictable. Margins are razor-thin (10.1% gross, 1.7% net), returns are low (5.2% ROE), the accumulated deficit is deeply negative at -$1.63B, and the business is entirely at the mercy of aluminum prices, power costs (smelting is energy-intensive), and global supply/demand — factors outside management's control. Share count also rose 7.2%, diluting holders.