Howmet Aerospace

Financially, Howmet is very strong. It generated roughly $1.3 B cash from operations in 2024, yielding $977 M free cash flow (≈88% of GAAP net income). The balance sheet is solid: the company has been reducing debt and ended 2024 at only 1.4× net debt/EBITDA). Interest coverage is ample (operating income $1.6 B vs ~$180 M interest expense).

Management quickly deploys cash: 2024 saw $500 M of stock repurchases and a 25% dividend hike while still investing for growth (capex ~$321 M)). We view financial strength as very high (≈85), meaning it could weather downturns comfortably.