Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA)

On Wednesday after the close, shares of Alcoa Corp. took a nosedive following a Q4 earnings miss. The company announced earnings per share of $1.04 on $3.17 billion in revenues while analyst were looking for $1.23 earnings per share.

This isn't that bad of an earnings release. They grew year-over-year but they just happened to miss analyst estimates which usually causes for some selling.

Alcoa Technicals

Taking a look at the 5-minute chart above you can see that shares had a solid sell-off following their earnings release with a nearly 7.8% drop at current prices in the premarket.

Depending on where prices open, the 20-day moving average should act as support or resistance which is currently sitting at $52.97. If prices move below then we really don't have much support until $50. If prices can hold the moving average then we are looking at $54 and $55 as major levels of resistance.

This one will be a volatile name today and will likely present some great opportunities for active traders.

CEO Comments

“Our fourth quarter results represent our highest adjusted EBITDA since our launch just over a year ago. We generated $775 million in adjusted EBITDA, excluding special items, up $214 million sequentially primarily on higher alumina prices. While this is up nearly 40% from the prior quarter, 4 short-term operational and financial impacts contributed to results that were about $50 million lower than our stated expectations. Those 4 things were roughly equal in impact.”