Alcoa jumps on profit surprise, first share buyback since split

Alcoa reported third-quarter earnings that were double estimates and announced its first share buyback in more than a decade in a sign that the top US aluminum producer is weathering the trade war.

Shares jumped 4.8% at 5:05 p.m. in New York as the company said it would buy $200-million of its stock, the first repurchase since 2007, when the manufacturer was still a combined commodity and metal-parts maker, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Alcoa split from its auto- and jet-components business in late 2016.