NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Alcoa Inc. warned Thursday that it expects third-quarter earnings from continuing operations to be in the range of 30 to 35 cents a share -- well below forecasts on Wall Street.

Industry analyst who follow the world's biggest aluminum producer had been expecting earnings of 50 cents a share, according to Reuters.

Alcoa (AA: Research, Estimates) stock tumbled as much as 3.9 percent in after-hours trading after rising about 1 percent in regular NYSE trading, though it later regained a bit of that ground.

The company, whose stock is one of 30 in the Dow industrials, blamed a strike at its Becancour, Quebec, smelter, a fire that led to an outage at a packaging facility in Hazleton, Penn., restructuring charges and higher costs.

"While we are not pleased with the short term impact the labor issues have had on our bottom line, our actions are aimed at enhanced global competitiveness of our North American operations," Alcoa's Chief Executive Alain Belda said in a statement.

"That is the best long-term job protection we can offer all of our employees."

Belda said the overall market for aluminum remains strong and said profits for the first three quarters of 2004 should rise 40 percent above 2003 levels. "As we address the labor and cost issues, the company will be well positioned for better operating performance in the future," he added.

Alcoa is scheduled to report third quarter earnings on Oct. 7 after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.