Quality Investor

Century Aluminum Company

Rank #450Hypergrowth

CENX · Nasdaq · Basic Materials

Century Aluminum Company (CENX) — Rank #450 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.09) · ROE 3.0% · Piotroski F-Score N/A.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0000949157 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Century Aluminum Company, together with its subsidiaries, produces primary aluminum and alumina in the United States and Iceland.

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The company engages in the production of standard-grade and value-added primary aluminum products. It also owns and operates a carbon anode production facility in Vlissingen, the Netherlands; and operates aluminum reduction facilities or smelters; and bauxite mining and alumina refining in Jamaica.

The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Industry
Aluminum
Sector
Basic Materials
State
DE
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
December 31

Price History

CENX+246.9% · +28.2% CAGRSPY+80.5% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/S is the primary valuation lens — earnings are reinvested, not available for P/E.

Market Cap

$3.99B

P/E (annual)

96.0

P/S (annual)

1.6

P/B

2.8

P/OCF (annual)

21.6

Shareholder Yield

-8.3%

Employees

2,906

Industry

Aluminum

Exchange

Nasdaq

Signal Flags

3 green2 yellow
Revenue growth acceleratingGrowth rate increasing year over year
Operating leverage expandingOperating income growing faster than revenue
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 2-quarter streak
Dilution above 2%Annual share count increase exceeds 2%. May be acceptable for high-growth companies funding talent via stock compensation
Disclosure regressionA previously-disclosed line item is no longer reported — worth checking the filing for why

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.09
Return on equity
3.0%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
0.87
Current ratio
2.75×
Net cash
$343.40M

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
1.9%

Growth

1/2 pass
Revenue growth
59.1%
Piotroski F-Score
N/A
Share dilution
8.3%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 1/5 Terry Smith thresholds

1 of 5 threshold not computable from filed data.

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

18.9%

fairly valued

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Dilution drag: 8.3% — per-share value needs a total required return of 27.2% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 19.1%

within its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

13.9%

r = 10% (base)

18.9%

r = 12%

23.1%

Net debt / market cap: -8.9%

Base FCF: $84.8M3Y mean FCF: -$152.1M

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / S

Price / revenue per share

0.4xCheap
0.4xmed 0.5x0.9x

P / B

Price / book value per share

2.6xExpensive
0.9xmed 1.0x4.9x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

22.1xExpensive
5.8xmed 16.7x22.1x

Revenue growth and the path to profitability (margin trend) are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.09

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

6th of 6 SIC 33 peers

Return on equity

3.0%

Gross margin

10.1%

6th of 6 SIC 33 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

59.1%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2018202020212022
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

-3.1%

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

9.5%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

FCF CAGR (3Y)

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

0.87

3rd of 6 SIC 33 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

2.75×

2nd of 6 SIC 33 peers

Quick ratio

0.94×

Net cash

$343.40M

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$84.80M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

1.03

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

1.9%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

N/A

Only 8/9 components determinable.

Lifecycle Phase History

20162022
Startup
Hypergrowth