AA vs RIO vs STLD Stock Comparison

Alcoa, Rio Tinto and Steel Dynamics Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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AA Alcoa Corp
$37.93 -13.9% 1M -5.5% 1Y
Market cap
$10.21B
P/E
8.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$13.60B
Div. yield
0.01%
Aluminum Basic Materials
6 wins
RIO Rio Tinto Plc
$83.40 -12.4% 1M +18.1% 1Y
Market cap
$135.87B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Iron Ore Basic Materials
2 wins
STLD Steel Dynamics Inc
$241.53 +3.1% 1M +60.3% 1Y
Market cap
$34.00B
P/E
17.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$22.22B
Div. yield
0.01%
Steel Basic Materials
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Alcoa leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Alcoa 6, Steel Dynamics 4, Rio Tinto 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAARIOSTLDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $10.21B $135.87B $34.00B RIO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 8.0x — 17.4x AA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 6.0x 10.6x 14.1x AA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.5% — +26.0% STLD
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.4% — 8.8% AA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 13.7% — 14.6% STLD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.4x — 1.0x AA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.01% AA
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -5.5% +18.1% +60.3% STLD
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -5.1%/yr +4.8%/yr +30.7%/yr STLD
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 53.4% 30.7% 36.0% RIO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 61/100 — 58/100 AA

Percentile Scorecard

AARIOSTLD

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAARIOSTLD
Valuation 86 #23 of 162 – 67 #54 of 162
Growth 64 #54 of 147 – 52 #71 of 147
Profitability 60 #49 of 122 – 65 #44 of 122
Financial Health 26 #124 of 166 22 #129 of 166 37 #105 of 166
Shareholder Returns 68 #35 of 107 98 #3 of 107 67 #36 of 107
Overall 61 – 58
  • AA ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining
  • RIO ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining
  • STLD ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAARIOSTLDSPY
1 month -13.9%-12.4%+3.1% -1.0%
3 months -14.3%-8.6%-2.3% +2.9%
6 months -42.5%-16.3%+6.5% +6.4%
Year to date -28.6%+4.2%+42.5% +11.4%
1 year -5.5%+18.1%+60.3% +13.1%
3 years +61.8%+33.6%+137.7% +79.4%
3 years, per year +17.4%+10.1%+33.5% +21.5%
5 years -23.0%+26.6%+280.4% +67.7%
5 years, per year -5.1%+4.8%+30.7% +10.9%
10 years +76.2%+153.7%+816.6% +255.2%
10 years, per year +5.8%+9.8%+24.8% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureAARIOSTLDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 53.4%30.7%36.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 53.2%32.0%36.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.601.261.07 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.100.591.67 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -76.3%-39.0%-32.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -54.7%-25.6%-14.6% -2.5%
52-week high $83.79$112.04$282.76 $779.14
52-week low $35.26$67.89$150.72 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAARIOSTLD
P/E now vs peer median 7.8xmedian 12.7x —median 12.7x 17.7xmedian 12.7x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 3.1x —median 3.1x 1.5xmedian 3.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 5.6xmedian 6.9x —median 6.9x 11.7xmedian 6.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 28.4xmedian 15.1x —median 15.1x 31.4xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 2.1x 2.0xmedian 2.1x 3.5xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median 0.21median 0.27 —median 0.27 -3.18median 0.27

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAARIOSTLD
Revenue $13.60B – $22.22B
Gross profit $2.56B – $3.53B
Operating income $1.29B – $2.56B
Net income $1.25B – $1.95B
Free cash flow $352.00M – $1.09B
R&D $21.00M – –
EPS (diluted) $4.80 – $13.58
Cash & equivalents $1.35B $8.87B $928.56M
Total debt $9.68B $16.90B $4.20B
Shares (diluted) 266.00M 1.63B 143.62M
Enterprise value $4.42B $96.37B $30.81B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAARIOSTLD
P/E 7.8x – 17.7x
P/FCF 28.4x – 31.4x
P/Operating cash flow 9.5x – 20.3x
P/S 0.7x – 1.5x
P/B 1.4x 2.0x 3.5x
P/Tangible book 1.4x 2.2x 3.6x
EV/EBITDA 5.6x – 11.7x
EV/EBIT 8.4x – 14.7x
EV/Revenue 0.8x – 1.7x
EV/FCF 30.9x – 34.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 10.4x – 22.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.21 – -3.18

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAARIOSTLD
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.5% – 26.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.8% – 4.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -0.9% – 53.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 55.1% – -6.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) -38.0% – 82.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 75.4% – -9.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 24.7% – 72.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 41.1% – -10.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 24.3% – 77.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 37.1% – -5.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -6.2% – 11.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 140.0% – -23.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -39.5% – 252.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 41.5% – -22.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAARIOSTLD
Gross margin 18.8% – 15.9%
EBITDA margin 14.3% – 14.4%
Operating margin 9.5% – 11.5%
Pretax margin 8.9% – 11.2%
Net margin 9.4% – 8.8%
FCF margin 2.6% – 4.9%
Operating cash flow margin 7.7% – 7.6%
Return on equity 17.6% – 20.5%
Return on assets 7.4% – 11.2%
Return on invested capital 13.7% – 14.6%
Return on capital employed 10.0% – 17.1%
Asset turnover 0.8x – 1.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.8x – 0.9x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% – 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAARIOSTLD
Debt / assets 13.2% – 23.6%
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.3x 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.4x – 1.0x
Debt / FCF 6.3x – 3.8x
Liabilities / assets 56.3% – 44.8%
Equity / assets 43.7% – 55.2%
Interest coverage 10.8x – 18.4x
Current ratio 1.5x 1.4x 3.1x
Quick ratio 0.8x 1.0x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.6x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 1.88 – 6.02

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAARIOSTLD
Dividend yield 1.1% 5.6% 0.9%
Net buyback yield – – 2.4%
Shareholder yield 1.1% 5.6% 3.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) 8.4% – 15.3%
Payout ratio (FCF) 29.8% – 27.2%
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.0% – 3.4%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 13.9% – 4.4%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAARIOSTLD
Forward P/E 6.0xFY2026 10.6xFY2026 14.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.30FY2026 $7.86FY2026 $17.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +67.1%FY2026 +17.5%FY2026 +114.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -1.7% +8.8% +19.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $13.77BFY2026 $67.63BFY2026 $22.75BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.3%FY2026 +17.3%FY2026 +25.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +15.5% -7.9% +15.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAARIOSTLD
Held by institutions 77.8% 7.9% 82.7%
Institutions holding 709 968 1,022
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.9% -1.1% +1.2%
Institutions buying 357 504 501
Institutions selling 242 283 370
Buyers to sellers 1.48 1.78 1.35

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AARIOSTLD
AA 1.00 0.57 0.40
RIO 0.57 1.00 0.45
STLD 0.40 0.45 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AA, RIO and STLD?

Rio Tinto (RIO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Alcoa (AA) $10.21B, Rio Tinto (RIO) $135.87B, Steel Dynamics (STLD) $34.00B.

Which stock is cheaper, AA, RIO and STLD?

Alcoa (AA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Alcoa (AA) 8.0x, Steel Dynamics (STLD) 17.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Alcoa (AA) is cheapest (Alcoa (AA) 6.0x, Rio Tinto (RIO) 10.6x, Steel Dynamics (STLD) 14.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Steel Dynamics (STLD) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Alcoa (AA) +6.5%, Steel Dynamics (STLD) +26.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Alcoa (AA) has the highest net margin (Alcoa (AA) 9.4%, Steel Dynamics (STLD) 8.8%). On return on invested capital, Steel Dynamics (STLD) leads (Alcoa (AA) 13.7%, Steel Dynamics (STLD) 14.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Steel Dynamics (STLD) returned the most: Alcoa (AA) -5.5%, Rio Tinto (RIO) +18.1%, Steel Dynamics (STLD) +60.3%. Over five years, Steel Dynamics (STLD) compounded fastest (Alcoa (AA) -5.1%/yr, Rio Tinto (RIO) +4.8%/yr, Steel Dynamics (STLD) +30.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Alcoa (AA) has the highest dividend yield: Alcoa (AA) 0.01%, Rio Tinto (RIO) 0.00%, Steel Dynamics (STLD) 0.01%. Rio Tinto (RIO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Rio Tinto (RIO) has been the steadiest (Alcoa (AA) 53.4%, Rio Tinto (RIO) 30.7%, Steel Dynamics (STLD) 36.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AA, RIO and STLD?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Alcoa (AA) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.