INSTANT VIEW: Alcoa posts surprise quarterly profit

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Alcoa Inc (AA.N) posted a surprise profit on Wednesday, easily beating Wall Street forecasts, on cost savings and an increase in aluminum prices.

The following are market comments on the results:

STEPHEN MASSOCCA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, WEDBUSH MORGAN, SAN FRANCISCO

"All around, the numbers are better than expected. But a lot of this is already built in the stocks, so the stock will trade up but not by a significant amount. We have seen a lot of interest in commodities recently and aluminum prices have been doing better too, which in return, has a positive impact on firms like Alcoa."

BRIAN HICKS, PORTFOLIO MANAGER AT U.S. GLOBAL INVESTORS, SAN ANTONIO

"It's a pretty big improvement. For once it looks like the cost-cutting initiatives have really taken hold, and the company has really streamlined itself during these softer economic times.

"This is to management's credit, it's really just better operating efficiencies ... we're still waiting for the macroeconomic situation and the underlying commodity price to pick up, and I think it will.

"Management also feels like we'll start to see an improving commodity price situation, and that should flow to the bottom line much easier now that costs have been contained.

"It's night and day between the first half and the first quarter of this year, and the third quarter."

PAUL BAIOCCHI, SENIOR MARKET STRATEGIST, DELTA GLOBAL ADVISORS, SAN FRANCISCO

"It's definitely a positive to kick off the earnings season with a beat for Alcoa. Their cost containment measures certainly proved to be very effective and that's certainly what the Street was looking for more than anything.

"Obviously, they're going to need to see top line growth, but the cost pressures was what undermined their most recent quarters and certainly the end of 2008.

I think it's a very welcome sign to see them so successful and specifically with their operating costs. If you take it one step further, it could be perceived as a contradictory message for the market after seeing Monsanto's numbers which were fairly disappointing for many observers. When you get a beat like this from Alcoa, you would think it would stem the tide of negativity coming from Monsanto.

"The real question will continue to be is whether the fundamentals of the domestic and global economy will start to reveal themselves in top line growth in other segments of the commodities and raw materials space."

(Reporting by Angela Moon and Carole Vaporean in New York and Braden Reddall in San Francisco)