Buy Or Fear Century Aluminum Stock?

Core Viewpoint - Century Aluminum (CENX) stock is considered hazardous and a poor investment choice at its current price of approximately $22 due to several identified issues despite its low valuation [2][3]. Valuation Comparison - CENX stock appears inexpensive when compared to the broader market based on price per dollar of sales or profit [4]. Revenue Growth - Century Aluminum's revenues have shown significant growth, with a 11.4% increase from $2.1 billion to $2.4 billion in the past 12 months, compared to a 5.5% growth for the S&P 500 [6]. - The company experienced an average annual decline of 1.4% in its top line over the last three years, while the S&P 500 saw a 5.5% increase [6]. - Quarterly revenues rose by 29.5% to $634 million in the most recent quarter from $490 million a year prior, outperforming the S&P 500's 4.8% improvement [6]. Profitability Metrics - Century Aluminum's operating income over the last four quarters was $166 million, reflecting a poor operating margin of 7.0% [7]. - The operating cash flow (OCF) during this timeframe was $63 million, indicating a very poor OCF margin of 2.6% compared to 14.9% for the S&P 500 [7]. - The price-to-sales (P/S) ratio for Century Aluminum is 0.9, while the S&P 500's is 3.1; the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is 17.3 versus the benchmark's 26.9 [7]. Financial Stability - Century Aluminum's debt stood at $483 million at the end of the most recent quarter, with a market capitalization of $2.1 billion, resulting in a moderate debt-to-equity ratio of 23.3% compared to 19.4% for the S&P 500 [9]. - Cash (including cash equivalents) constitutes $45 million of the $2.0 billion in total assets, leading to a poor cash-to-assets ratio of 2.3% [9]. Downturn Resilience - CENX stock has historically performed worse than the S&P 500 during several downturns, including an 82.1% drop during the inflation shock of 2022 compared to a 25.4% decline for the S&P 500 [10]. - During the COVID pandemic in 2020, CENX stock fell 62.1%, while the S&P 500 experienced a peak-to-trough decline of 33.9% [10]. - In the global financial crisis of 2008, CENX stock dropped 98.7%, significantly worse than the S&P 500's 56.8% decline [11]. Overall Assessment - Century Aluminum's performance across key parameters is summarized as follows: Growth is very strong, profitability is very weak, financial stability is weak, and downturn resilience is very weak, leading to an overall weak assessment of the stock [13].