CENTURY ALUMINUM (CENX)
Materials · aluminum manufacturing · NASDAQ
Century Aluminum is a leading U.S.-based producer of primary aluminum, focused on delivering high-quality metal to domestic and global industrial markets.
What CENTURY ALUMINUM does
Century Aluminum is a primary aluminum producer with operations in the United States and Iceland. The company operates smelters that produce high-quality standard-grade and value-added primary aluminum products for a range of industrial and manufacturing applications.
Themes: industrial metals, aluminum production, manufacturing supply chain
Fundamentals
- Price$36.38 as of 2026-10-08 close
- Market cap$3.6B as of 2026-08-04 (share count; price 2026-10-08)
- 1-year return+15.1% 2025-10-08 close $31.60 → 2026-10-08 close $36.38
- P/E6.30 as of 2026-10-08
- Net margin+1.7% FY2025, SEC XBRL
- Gross margin+10.1% FY2025, SEC XBRL
- ROE+5.2% FY2025, SEC XBRL
- Debt / equity0.36 as of 2026-09-03
- Revenue growth (YoY)+9.7% as of 2026-09-03
- Revenue CAGR (3y)-3.1% SEC XBRL
- Beta1.72 as of 2026-09-03
- Last reported earnings2026-08-06 SEC EDGAR Form 8-K (Item 2.02)
How CENX compares in its sector
- price-to-earnings ratiobottom 10% 91 covered Materials peers, as of 2026-10-08
- net profit marginmiddle range 125 covered Materials peers, as of 2026-09-03
- operating marginmiddle range 108 covered Materials peers, as of 2026-09-03
- gross marginbottom 10% 92 covered Materials peers, as of 2026-09-03
- return on equitymiddle range 144 covered Materials peers, as of 2026-09-03
- 3-year revenue CAGRmiddle range 127 covered Materials peers
- free cash flow (absolute dollars, latest fiscal year)middle range 122 covered Materials peers, as of FY2025
Position among covered Materials companies that report each metric (minimum 5 peers). A relative position within our covered catalog — not a valuation, quality, or investment judgment. A higher percentile is simply a higher value (for P/E, more expensive on earnings — never "better"). Informational only.
Top 10 scores & list membership
CENX is not currently in any published Top 10 list. Its scores are below.
Top 10 score
40.5 #1173 of 1,379 scored · #55 of 73 in Materials
Valuation 79th (price to earnings 6.3, price to book 2.6) and capital return 49th (net share count bought back over the year 3.2, consecutive years of dividend increases 0 years); weakest is trend (24th, trading below its 200-day average).
Scores as of 8 Oct 2026. Each bar is a percentile: how this company ranked against every company the score ranked, 0–100. A list is a published formula and its output, not a recommendation. Method version 4.
How CENTURY ALUMINUM looks technically
CENTURY ALUMINUM (CENX) is trading 27.5% below its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a long-term downtrend. Its 50-day average crossed below its 200-day average about 36 trading days ago — a "death cross", a bearish long-term signal. A strong downtrend is in place — ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 29, with sellers in control. Momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 34, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30). MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, turned bullish about 1 trading day ago (its momentum flipped positive). It made a new 20-day low about 5 trading days ago. It is 48.3% below its highest point of the past year.
Trend
7
| Distance from the 200-day | it is trading 27.5% below its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a long-term downtrend | -27.5% |
|---|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | its average price over the last 50 trading days — a short-term trend line — is $43.20 | $43.20 |
| 200-day moving average | its average price over the last 200 trading days — the long-term trend line — is $50.20 | $50.20 |
| Swing structure | its recent peaks and dips disagree — one of them is rising while the other is not, so there is no clean up or down pattern in the swings | mixed — one of the two is not confirming |
| Last swing turn | its last significant turn was a swing low 7 calendar days ago — the swings before that are what the structure reading is measured on | 7 sessions |
| Since the 50/200 cross | its 50-day average crossed below its 200-day average about 36 trading days ago — a "death cross", a bearish long-term signal | 36 sessions |
| Trend strength (14-day ADX) | a strong downtrend is in place — ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 29, with sellers in control | 29.4 |
Momentum
3
| 14-day RSI | momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 34, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30) | 34.4 |
|---|---|---|
| Position in its 14-day range | it is trading in the lower half of its 14-day range ($35.04 to $40.10) — its "stochastic" reading is 26 out of 100, where 0 would mean closing exactly at the 14-session low and 100 exactly at the high. This measures WHERE the price sits inside its recent range, which is a different question from the RSI beside it: RSI is a momentum gauge, measuring how FAST the price has been moving, so a stock can drift quietly to the bottom of its range with an ordinary RSI, or fall sharply and still sit in the middle. It has been climbing within that range over the last few sessions. | 26.5 |
| Since the MACD crossed zero | MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, turned bullish about 1 trading day ago (its momentum flipped positive) | 1 session |
Range
12
| 52-week high | its highest closing price over the past year (about 252 trading days) was $70.43 | $70.43 |
|---|---|---|
| From the 52-week high | it is 48.3% below its 52-week high (its highest price of the past year) | -48.4% |
| Above the 52-week low | it is 43.2% above its 52-week low (its lowest price of the past year) | +43.2% |
| Below the 52-week high | it is 48.3% below its highest point of the past year | 48.4% |
| Since a 20-day breakout | it made a new 20-day low about 5 trading days ago | 5 sessions |
| Since a 55-day breakout | it made a new 55-day low about 5 trading days ago | 5 sessions |
| All-time high | its highest closing price on record is $80.52 (set on 2008-05-19) | $80.52 |
| Given back of the 52-week move | over the past year its closes ranged ($26.19 to $68.77), and it has given back well over two thirds of its rise from last year’s low — 76% of it. Chart-watchers call 61.8%-65% given back the "golden pocket" — for this company that is $41.09 to $42.46. It is watched widely enough that orders cluster there, which is the honest reason it matters; it is not a forecast. | 76.1% |
| From the all-time high | it is 54.8% below its all-time high | -54.8% |
| Nearest price level | it is trading 5.5% above a support level at $34.38 — a price it turned at twice since 2025-10-20, most recently on 2025-11-07. Since 2024-10-08 it has 11 such levels below the current price and 4 above. Levels like these describe where the price has reversed or paused before; they are not a forecast of where it will go. | -5.5% |
| All-time low | its lowest closing price on record is $1.04 (set on 2009-03-09) | $1.04 |
| Above the all-time low | it is 3398.1% above its all-time low | +3,398% |
Volatility
5
| Band width vs its own 6 months | day-to-day price swings are about average versus its own recent 6-month history | 42nd percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Typical daily range | in a typical session it travels about $1.68 between its high and its low — about 4.6% of its price. That is its "average true range" over the last 14 sessions, which also counts the distance from the previous close, so a day that opens well away from yesterday counts as the large move it was | $1.68 |
| Bollinger bands (20-day, ±2σ) | most of its recent trading has stayed between about $34.04 and $42.60 — the "Bollinger bands", a range drawn two standard deviations either side of its 20-day average price, which widens when the stock gets more volatile and narrows when it settles | $34.04 – $38.32 – $42.60 |
| Typical daily range (% of price) | its price moves about 4.6% in a typical session — about typical for the companies we cover. This is the average gap between a session's high and low over the last 14 sessions, counting overnight moves, expressed against the current price so it can be compared with companies trading at any price | 4.6% |
| Stretch from the 200-day average | it is trading 8.3 daily ranges below its 200-day average price (27.5% below it in plain percentage terms) — a way of asking how far it has stretched from its own average in units of how far it normally moves in a day, so a calm company and a jumpy one can be compared on the same scale | 8.3 daily ranges below its 200-day average |
Volume
1
| Volume vs its 30-day average | trading volume is about normal versus its 30-day average | 1.06× |
|---|
Analyst
2
| Change in the average price target | analysts' average price target is unchanged from the prior reading | 0.0% |
|---|---|---|
| Change in the consensus rating | the analyst consensus rating is unchanged since the prior reading | unchanged |
Candlestick patterns
2
| Since a doji | 2 sessions ago it opened and closed at almost the same price after trading through a wider range — a "doji", the classic picture of buyers and sellers finishing the session level | 2 sessions ago |
|---|---|---|
| Since a bullish engulfing | today it opened below the previous session's close and finished above that session's open — a "bullish engulfing" pair, where one up day more than undid the down day before it | today |
Price gaps
3
| Gap at the open | it opened on 2026-10-08 0.6% below the previous session's close — an overnight gap, the part of the move that happened while the market was shut, and traded back through that level before the close | -0.6% |
|---|---|---|
| Open gap | it gapped 2.7% below the previous close 1 session ago and has not traded back through the level it left behind at 37.18 — an "unfilled gap", which describes a price range no trade has since crossed and is not a forecast that it will be crossed | -2.7% |
| Gap filled | a 2.2% gap up opened on 2026-09-17 has been "filled" 14 sessions ago — price traded back through the level the gap left behind, and it took 1 session to close | 14 sessions ago |
Price streaks
1
| Closing streak | it closed higher in its latest session, after a session that did not close higher — a single up day rather than a run | 1 session up |
|---|
Relative strength
4
| vs market, 1 month | over the past 1 month this stock lagged the market by 25.2 percentage points (the stock lost 24.1% while the market gained 1.0%) | -25.2% |
|---|---|---|
| vs market, 3 months | over the past 3 months this stock lagged the market by 22.5 percentage points (the stock lost 18.7% while the market gained 3.8%) | -22.5% |
| vs market, 6 months | over the past 6 months this stock lagged the market by 61.1 percentage points (the stock lost 43.6% while the market gained 17.5%) | -61.1% |
| vs market, 12 months | over the past 12 months this stock beat the market by 0.1 percentage points (the stock gained 15.1% while the market gained 15.0%) | +0.1% |
Signal agreement
2
| Bullish technical signals | 1 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it is currently in a bullish state: MACD momentum is positive — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 1 of 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Bearish technical signals | 5 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bearish state: a "death cross" — its 50-day average is below its 200-day, trading below its 200-day average, a strong downtrend, with sellers in control, lagging the market over 6 months, trading below the Ichimoku cloud — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 5 of 9 |
Trend (Ichimoku cloud)
1
| Vs the Ichimoku cloud | trading 22% below the Ichimoku cloud — a band drawn from where its own highs and lows sat up to 2026-09-01 and projected forward over today's price, the side traders read as an established downtrend, with the band above acting as the level that would have to be cleared. The band itself is moderate, spanning 4.0% of the share price. | -21.7% |
|---|
Volume-weighted price
2
| Vs this year’s average price paid | the price is 28% below the average price paid so far this year, so the typical buyer over that stretch is under water. That average is $50.49 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 190 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | -27.9% |
|---|---|---|
| Vs the average paid since it last reported | the price is 15% below the average price paid since it last reported on 2026-08-06 (its 10-Q), so the typical buyer over that stretch is under water. That average is $43.03 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 45 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | -15.5% |
Price levels it has turned at before
CENX last closed at $36.38 on 2026-10-08. Since 2024-10-08 it has turned at 11 prices below its last close and 4 above; the 3 nearest below and the 3 nearest above are listed, nearest first.
| Level | Side | Distance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| $34.38 | Support | 5.5% below the last close | turned there twice · 2025-10-20 to 2025-11-07 |
| $40.48 | Resistance | 11.3% above the last close | turned there twice · 2026-07-20 to 2026-08-19 |
| $42.87 | Resistance | 17.8% above the last close | turned there twice · 2026-02-13 to 2026-07-01 |
| $28.14 | Support | 22.6% below the last close | turned there twice · 2025-10-07 to 2025-10-22 |
| $25.42 | Support | 30.1% below the last close | turned there three times · 2024-12-03 to 2025-11-21 |
| $47.34 | Resistance | 30.1% above the last close | turned there twice · 2026-07-14 to 2026-07-24 |
A level is a price this company reversed or paused at more than once — they describe past behaviour, not a forecast of where the price will go.
Wave structure
No Elliott-wave labelling currently fits its swings: the recent highs and lows do not satisfy the three rules a five-wave count has to obey, so there is no count to show rather than a count we are unsure about.
Read from daily closes as of 2026-10-08.
An Elliott-wave count describes the swings already printed and the level that would disprove it. It is not a forecast, a target, or advice.
Screens: Trading below the 200-day moving average · Pulled back from the 12-month high · MACD just crossed bullish (12/26/9) · lagging the market · Printed a bullish engulfing pair · Stretched far below its 200-day average (6+ daily ranges) | Learn: moving average · golden cross · adx · rsi · macd · breakout · fifty two week high low
Based on daily closing prices as of 2026-10-08. Describes past price behavior only — informational, not financial advice.
Analyst consensus
- Consensus ratingStrong Buy (1.00 mean, 1=Strong Buy…5=Strong Sell) — 4 analysts
- Mean price target$66.50 range $55.00 – $79.00; median $66.00
Analyst estimates, as of 2026-10-07. These are third-party analyst opinions and price targets, aggregated — not a recommendation, prediction, or advice from stocks-llm. Informational only.
Analyst EPS estimate for CENX
- Consensus EPS estimate$2.77 next reporting period, as of 2026-10-07
- Estimate change, 30 days-$0.03333 (-1.2%) from $2.80, on 2026-09-02, 35-day window
- Readings revised upward13% of 8 comparable readings
The consensus estimate for the next reporting period, and how it has moved between readings of that SAME period. A change is measured only between readings estimating one period — when a company reports, the consensus moves to the next quarter and the two numbers are not comparable. Informational only, not a forecast and not advice.
Key risks (from latest filing)
["Significant volatility in primary aluminum market prices and raw material costs","Dependence on the availability and pricing of electrical power for smelting operations","Exposure to risks associated with international trade regulations and tariffs"]
What changed in the latest 10-Q
AI-assisted comparison of CENX's 10-Q filed 2026-08-06 against the prior one filed 2026-05-07.
Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A)
- Added:
- Newer filing adds a paragraph under 'New Smelter Project' describing a July 20, 2026 executive order entitled 'Securing America’s Defense Supply Chains and Ensuring Domestic Acquisition of Critical Materials' that allows approved companies investing in new U.S. primary aluminum production to import a commensurate amount of primary aluminum at a reduced tariff rate.
- Newer filing adds a paragraph under 'Sale of Hawesville' stating that on July 6, 2026, Terawulf announced its subsidiary entered into a 20-year lease agreement with Anthropic PBC for approximately 401 MW of critical IT load at the Hawesville site, with delivery expected in phases beginning in late 2027 and concluding in early 2028.
- Newer filing adds a sentence under 'Jamalco Equipment Failure' stating that in July 2026, the Company entered into a settlement agreement and expects to receive $9.7 million, net of deductibles, related to an insurance claim for the equipment failure.
- Removed:
- Older filing states under 'Jamalco Equipment Failure' that the Company was engaged with its insurance carriers in connection with the equipment failure to determine the specific amount of coverage available, including any applicable deductibles; this language is removed in the newer filing.
- Reworded:
- The percentage of cost of goods sold represented by the principal components changed from 'more than 78%' in the older filing to 'more than 82%' in the newer filing.
- Under 'Grundartangi Equipment Failure', the insurance recovery figures and dates changed: older filing states as of March 31, 2026, $37.0 million was received with an additional $46.1 million received in April 2026; newer filing states as of June 30, 2026, $83.1 million was received with an additional $18.5 million received in July 2026.
- The expected timing for return to near full production at Grundartangi changed from 'currently expected by the end of July 2026' in the older filing to 'expected by the end of the third quarter' in the newer filing.
- Under 'Section 232 Aluminum Tariffs', older filing states 'the LME and Midwest premium has increased to historically high levels'; newer filing states 'Midwest premium has increased' without mentioning the LME.
- The newer filing's 'Pricing of Aluminum' section is truncated and ends mid-sentence at 'The overall price of primary aluminum cons', while the older filing contains a fuller definition of three price components and factors influencing aluminum prices.
- Notes:
- The newer filing text is cut off mid-sentence at the beginning of the 'Pricing of Aluminum' section, so changes in that section cannot be fully compared with the older filing.
- The comparison is based solely on the provided excerpts of both filings, not the complete documents.
Risk Factors
- Added:
- Newer filing (filed 2026-08-06): Exhibit 10.1 is an 'Amendment to Revolving Credit Facility, dated July 14th, between Nordural Grundartangi ehf, as borrower and Landsbankinn hf', filed herewith.
- Removed:
- Older filing (filed 2026-05-07): Exhibit 10.1 was an 'Agreement of Purchase and Sale, dated February 2, 2026, by and between the Century Aluminum of Kentucky General Partnership and Justified DataPower LLC', incorporated by reference to Form 8-K, File No. 001-34474, filed February 2, 2026.
- Reworded:
- Older filing (filed 2026-05-07) addressed Rule 10b5-1 trading plans during the quarter ended March 31, 2026; newer filing (filed 2026-08-06) addresses the quarter ended June 30, 2026.
- Older filing (filed 2026-05-07) signature page dated May 7, 2026; newer filing (filed 2026-08-06) signature page dated August 6, 2026.
- Notes:
- Only the portions of each filing shown under 'Risk Factors' and adjacent items were compared; other sections of the two filings were not part of this comparison.
- Page numbers in the table of contents differ (38 vs 40; 39 vs 41; 40 vs 42) due to document length, not a substantive change in the risk factor text.
AI-assisted comparison of two SEC filing sections. It describes wording and theme changes only, makes no materiality, legal, or investment judgement, and is not financial advice. Informational only — not financial advice.
Insider activity (SEC Form 4)
No open-market insider purchases or sales recorded in the last 90 days, of which we have read Form 4 filings through 2026-10-04. The 5 days since 2026-10-04 have not been checked yet.
Most recent open-market transaction: 2026-03-25. Based on Form 4 filings read through 2026-10-04; anything filed since is not yet included.
View full insider trading history → View SEC Form 3/4/5 filingsAsk about CENX's insider activity →
Only open-market purchases (SEC code P) and sales (code S) are counted here. Option exercises, vesting/awards, gifts, and shares withheld for taxes are excluded — they are compensation or mechanical, not open-market conviction. Sales may be planned and non-discretionary (e.g. a Rule 10b5-1 plan) and are not necessarily bearish; open-market buying is not a recommendation to buy. Informational only — not financial advice.
Institutional ownership (13F)
6 institutional 13F filers reported holding CENX as of 2026-06-30 (quarter-end position, filed within 45 days).
- Distinct 13F filers 6
- Reported shares held 19,680,867
- Reported value $905,516,705
reported quarterly holdings change (2026-03-31 → 2026-06-30): 0 new, 2 increased, 4 decreased, 0 exited. Change counts cover only managers that filed 13F reports in BOTH quarters, derived between two quarter-end snapshots — not same-day trades; a single manager is never said to have "bought" or "sold".
Institutional holdings are quarter-end long positions reported on SEC Form 13F-HR, filed up to 45 days after the quarter ends — they are delayed, are not real-time trades, exclude short positions and most non-US securities, and are not investment advice. Any increase/decrease is a reported change between two quarterly snapshots, not a same-day purchase or sale. These are quarter-end snapshots from the 13F filings on SEC EDGAR, filed within 45 days — not real-time, and any change is a difference between two quarterly reports, not a same-day trade. Informational only — not financial advice.
Ask about CENX's institutional holders → See what each manager we track holds →
Short interest (FINRA)
CENX had 9,701,397 shares of reported short interest as of the 2026-09-15 FINRA settlement date (delayed, bi-monthly; not real-time).
CENX had 9.80% of its shares outstanding sold short as of the 2026-09-15 FINRA settlement date (percent of FLOAT would be higher — float is not disclosed in the source). FINRA reported 6.34 days to cover at the same settlement.
- Reported short interest (shares) 9,701,397
- Short interest (% of shares outstanding) 9.80%
- Prior settlement (shares) 10,183,769
- Reported change -4.74%
- Days to cover (reported) 6.34
Reported to FINRA as of the 2026-09-15 settlement date. Short interest is reported to FINRA and published on a delayed, bi-monthly schedule (as of a settlement date, disseminated roughly eight business days later) — it is NOT real-time, does not cover every venue or all US trading, and is not a short-squeeze prediction or investment advice. Days-to-cover is the value FINRA reports; percent of float is not shown because the source file carries no share-count denominator — where a percent appears it is of shares OUTSTANDING, the larger base, and is therefore a floor on percent of float. Informational only — not financial advice.
Competitors & peers
- Alcoa (AA)
- Rio Tinto
- Norsk Hydro (NHYDY)
- Constellium (CSTM)
- Kaiser Aluminum (KALU)
AI-enriched competitor set. Linked names are companies covered by stocks-llm; other named peers are shown for reference only.
Compare CENX vs…
Frequently asked questions
What does CENTURY ALUMINUM (CENX) do?
Century Aluminum is a primary aluminum producer with operations in the United States and Iceland. The company operates smelters that produce high-quality standard-grade and value-added primary aluminum products for a range of industrial and manufacturing applications.
What sector is CENTURY ALUMINUM (CENX) in?
CENTURY ALUMINUM (CENX) is classified in the Materials sector. Its industry is aluminum manufacturing. It trades on NASDAQ.
Who are CENTURY ALUMINUM's (CENX) competitors?
Notable peers of CENTURY ALUMINUM (CENX) include Alcoa, Rio Tinto, Norsk Hydro, Constellium and Kaiser Aluminum. This peer set is informational only — not financial advice.
Is CENTURY ALUMINUM (CENX) overbought or oversold right now?
CENTURY ALUMINUM (CENX) is currently neither overbought nor oversold — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 34, in the neutral middle (as of 2026-10-08). RSI describes recent price momentum, not a forecast — informational only, not financial advice.
Where does stocks-llm's data on CENX come from?
Fundamentals come from SEC XBRL company filings for the figures marked with a fiscal year, and market data, as of 2026-09-03 for the rest; prices are market data, as of 2026-09-03; company filings and profile facts come from SEC EDGAR. All figures are delayed daily-close data shown with their as-of date — informational only, not financial advice.
Fundamentals: SEC XBRL company filings for the figures marked with a fiscal year, and market data, as of 2026-09-03 for the rest. Filings: SEC EDGAR. Prices are delayed daily-close data.
Last updated 2026-10-08.
Informational only — NOT financial advice. All figures are delayed daily-close data from SEC EDGAR & market data, shown with their as-of date.