Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) started off earnings season on a high note, handily beating Wall Street forecasts.

Buoyed by strong demand and high prices, the world's largest aluminum maker reported profit of $359 million, or 41 cents per share, compared with $224 million or 26 cents a year earlier. Profit excluding restructuring costs was $644 million, or 74 cents, the Pittsburgh-based company said. Revenue soared 20 percent to $7.8 billion.

Analysts expected profit of 65 cents on revenue of $7.63 billion, according to Thomson Financial.

"This year, top and bottom-line performance has been the best in our company's history," said CEO Alain Belda in a press release. "Revenues and income from continuing operations achieved record levels."

Belda also gave an optimistic outlook for the year.

"As we enter 2007, market fundamentals remain strong." he said. "We will generate more than enough cash this year to fund our capital investment programs. We will continue to deliver strong results, invest in our future, and keep a strong balance sheet. And, we continue to manage our investment decisions and portfolio actions on the basis of contribution to profitable growth."