What to watch

Alcoa gets 2nd-quarter optimism rolling

Aluminum company Alcoa reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue late Monday, sending its shares higher in after-hours trading and giving a positive start to the second-quarter earnings season.

The company reported an adjusted profit of 15 cents a share, exceeding the 10 cents expected, says S&P Global Market Intelligence. Adjusted quarterly profit fell 21% from a year earlier. But improved pricing on the aluminum markets stoked optimism. Shares of Alcoa rose 4% to $10.53 after hours. The stock closed up 3.3% in regular trading.

Revenue of $5.3 billion also topped expectations for $5.2 billion. Revenue is down about 10% from year-ago levels. “As markets ever more rapidly evolve, we have made Alcoa increasingly agile; results continue to improve,” said CEO Klaus Kleinfeld. “In the face of a transforming aerospace market, we moved quickly to bring our costs down while capturing new opportunities.”

Alcoa used to be the first member of the Dow Jones industrial average to report earnings, thus serving as the beginning of the season. But the company was removed from the Dow years ago, so Alcoa now unofficially marks the start of earnings season.

And Alcoa is in the process of splitting itself into two smaller companies which will make is even less relevant as a measure of earnings season.

The big event kicks off on Thursday when giant bank JPMorgan Chase, a Dow component, reports.