Kaiser Aluminum Corporation Reports Record First Quarter 2026 Financial Results

About this update from Kaiser Aluminum Corporation

First Quarter 2026 Highlights: FRANKLIN, Tenn., April 22, 2026 --( BUSINESS WIRE )--Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (NASDAQ: KALU) (the "Company" or "Kaiser"), a leading producer of semi-fabricated specialty aluminum products serving customers worldwide with highly-engineered solutions for aerospace and high strength, packaging, general engineering, and automotive extrusions end market applications, today announced first quarter 2026 results. Management Commentary "Our strong finish to 2025 carried into 2026, giving us the confidence to raise our full year outlook," said Keith A. Harvey, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "EBITDA growth was driven by a higher value packaging mix, improving aerospace demand, widening scrap spreads and strong customer activity across all end markets, supplemented by metal lag gains. These results reflect the structural improvements taking hold across the business and the earnings power we are unlocking as our strategic initiatives advance." First Quarter 2026 Financial Highlights Net sales for the first quarter 2026 increased to $1.1 billion compared to $777 million in the prior year period, driven by higher shipments and an increase in average realized sales price. Shipments for the first quarter 2026 improved 7% year-over-year, primarily due to strong underlying demand in the Company's packaging end market for coated products and higher aerospace build rates as destocking continues to abate. The increase in average realized sales price reflects a 70% increase in the Hedged Cost of Alloyed Metal, a direct pass through as a function of contracted selling price. Conversion Revenue for the first quarter 2026 was $404 million, reflecting an 11% increase compared to the prior year period, primarily due to a strong pricing environment and improved product mix in the Company's packaging end market. The following table provides the Company's Shipments and Conversion Revenue information (in millions of dollars, except shipments and Conversion Revenue per pound) by end market applications: Cash Flow and Liquidity Adjusted EBITDA of $129 million reported in the first quarter 2026 and cash on hand funded $25 million of working capital, $19 million of capital investments, $10 million of interest payments, and $14 million of cash returned to stockholders through quarterly dividends. As of March 31, 2026, the Company's net debt leverage ratio improved to 2.8x from 3.4x at December 31, 2025. As of March 31, 2026, the Company had total liquidity of $596 million, consisting of cash and cash equivalents of $30 million and borrowing availability under the Company's Revolving Credit Facility of $566 million. There were no outstanding borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility as of March 31, 2026. On April 13, 2026, the Company announced the declaration of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.77 per share, which will be paid on May 15, 2026 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on April 24, 2026. 2026 Outlook For the full year 2026, the Company now expects Conversion Revenue to improve by 10% to 15% and raises the Adjusted EBITDA outlook to improve by 20% to 30% year-over-year. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA is due to stronger demand, favorable pricing, an improved mix within the Company's packaging operations, and consistent execution across the portfolio, along with metal lag gains. Conference Call Kaiser Aluminum Corporation will host a conference call on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at 10:00 am (Eastern Time); 9:00 am (Central Time); 7:00 am (Pacific Time), to discuss its first quarter 2026 results. To participate, the conference call can be directly accessed from the U.S. and Canada at (877) 423-9813 and accessed internationally at (201) 689-8573. The conference call ID number is 13759443. A link to the simultaneous webcast can be accessed on the Company’s website at https://investors.kaiseraluminum.com . A copy of a presentation will be available for download prior to the call and an audio archive will be available on the Company’s website following the call. Company Description Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, headquartered in Franklin, Tenn., is a leading producer of semi-fabricated specialty aluminum products, serving customers worldwide with highly-engineered solutions for aerospace and high-strength, packaging, general engineering, and automotive extrusions. The Company’s North American facilities produce value-added plate, sheet, coil, extrusions, rod, bar, tube, and wire products, adhering to traditions of quality, innovation, and service that have been key components of the culture since the Company was founded in 1946. The Company’s stock is included in the Russell 2000® index and the S&P Small Cap 600® index. Available Information For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.kaiseraluminum.com . The website includes a section for investor relations under which the Company provides notifications of news or announcements regarding its financial performance, including Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, investor events, and earnings and other press releases. In addition, all Company filings submitted to the SEC are available through a link to the section of the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov , which includes: Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and Proxy Statements for the Company’s annual stockholders’ meetings, and other information statements as filed with the SEC. In addition, the Company provides a webcast of its quarterly earnings calls and certain events in which management participates or hosts with members of the investment community. Non-GAAP Financial Measures This earnings release contains certain non-GAAP financial measures. A "non-GAAP financial measure" is defined as a numerical measure of a company’s financial performance that excludes or includes amounts so as to be different than the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP in the statements of income, balance sheets, or statements of cash flow of the Company. Pursuant to the requirements of Regulation G, the Company has provided a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measure in the accompanying tables. The non-GAAP financial measures used within this earnings release are Conversion Revenue, Adjusted operating income, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted net income, and Adjusted earnings per diluted share which exclude non-run-rate items and ratios related thereto. As more fully described in these reports, "non-run-rate" items are items that, while they may occur from period to period, are particularly material to results, impact costs primarily as a result of external market factors and may not occur in future periods if the same level of underlying performance were to occur. These measures are presented because management uses this information to monitor and evaluate financial results and trends and believes this information to also be useful for investors. Reconciliations of certain forward looking non-GAAP financial measures to comparable GAAP measures are not provided because certain items required for such reconciliations are outside of the Company's control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted or provided without unreasonable effort. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains statements based on management’s current expectations, estimates and projections that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied. These factors include: (a) the effectiveness of management's strategies and decisions, including strategic investments, capital spending strategies, cost reduction initiatives, sourcing strategies, process and countermeasures implemented to address operational and supply chain challenges, and the execution of those strategies; (b) the execution and timing of strategic investments; (c) general economic and business conditions, including the impact of geopolitical factors and governmental and other actions taken in response, tariffs, cyclicality, reshoring, labor challenges, supply interruptions, scrap availability and pricing, customer operation disruptions, customer inventory imbalances and supply chain issues and other conditions that impact demand drivers in the aerospace/high strength, packaging, general engineering, and automotive extrusions end markets we serve; (d) the Company’s ability to participate in mature and anticipated new automotive programs expected to launch in the future and successfully launch new automotive programs; (e) changes or shifts in defense spending due to competing national priorities; (f) pricing, market conditions and the Company’s ability to effectively execute its commercial and labor strategies, pass through cost increases, including the institution of surcharges, and flex costs in response to inflation, volatile commodity costs and changing economic conditions; (g) developments in technology; (h) the impact of the Company's future earnings, cash flows, financial condition, capital requirements and other factors on its financial strength and flexibility; (i) new or modified statutory or regulatory requirements; (j) the successful integration of the acquired operations and technologies; (k) stakeholder, including regulator and customer, views regarding the Company's sustainability goals and initiatives and the impact of factors outside of the Company's control on such goals and initiatives; and (l) other risk factors summarized in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission including the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025. All information in this release is as of the date of the release. The Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company’s expectations.   View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260422561363/en/ Contacts Investor Relations and Public Relations Contact: Addo Investor Relations [email protected] (629) 252-7040

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