I'm not sure where ozbecool is getting his information from....

I'm not sure where ozbecool is getting his information from. From what I can see, ALU hasn't had any debt for years. It's well capitalised, and very healthy free cashflow (almost double that of net income).

IMHO, short term investors care about EPS, while long term investors are more concerned with free cash flow. There are certain accounting factors in EPS which (to me anyway) is not entirely reflective of the company's financial performance. To a lesser extent, EBITDA as well.

I sold off when news of the takeover was announced on the gamble that the Autodesk takeover had no legs (a serious takeover would have a lot more details than the skimpy announcement by ALU). Guess I am right so far, but we'll see.

overall I think it's a great business but just overvalued at current prices. It would need to demonstrate much stronger free cash flow (from increased earnings) to warrant current prices for me to buy back in.

Happy to hear more thoughts!

GLTAH!