Is KALU a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Kaiser Aluminum Corporation on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how KALU compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Kaiser Aluminum Corporation's AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to KALU based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes KALU a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

KALU - Kaiser Aluminum Corporation

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Hold DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $165.33 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Other Commodity Producers

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

D+ 43.9 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for other commodity producers businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 15%

D+ 43.8

5yr Avg ROIC 3.4% 27/100
Operating Margin Trend +0.92 pp/yr 83/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 10%

D 33.8

5yr Avg ROE 3.8% 29/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR 1.2% 42/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 5%

B+ 77.4

5yr Revenue CAGR 6.5% 67/100
5yr EPS CAGR 52.3% 100/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 3/5 60/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 25%

F 25.4

5yr FCF Margin -0.8% 21/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 0.31x 31/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 25%

C 54.9

Net Debt / EBITDA 3.46x 41/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 3.99x 55/100
Altman Z-Score 3.01 80/100

Stability

Weight: 20%

C- 49.3

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.43 39/100
Piotroski F-Score 5 56/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 2/5 60/100

2 of 3 gurus held; 1 added; 1 trimmed; 1 full exit.

Holders: 2 -1
Avg Δ position: +20.1%
New buys: 0
Full exits: 1

Laffont sold -100%
Cooperman increased +52%
Wood decreased -12%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (15%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (10%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (5%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (25%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (25%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (20%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.