Are Alcoa’s Earnings Really A Bellwether For The S&P 500?

Alcoa Inc AA 5.06%’s earnings have long been seen as a bellwether for earnings season, as the aluminum producer is always the first big-name stock to report each quarter.

With the company kicking off Q2 earnings season Wednesday, Benzinga took a look back to see how Alcoa’s stock has traded following its last 12 earnings reports and what that action has meant for the S&P 500.

Recent Disappointments

Unfortunately for Alcoa shareholders, earnings reports have produced little good news for the stock in the past three years. On the day following the company’s last 12 earnings reports, the stock has traded down 9 out of 12 times.

Alcoa’s stock has demonstrated that earnings can be a strong catalyst for the stock. The stock has averaged a 3.1 percent move in magnitude on the day following its past 12 earnings reports. Unfortunately, those moves have averaged out to an overall return of -1.2 percent.

Alcoa As A Bellwether

How good of an indicator is…

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