Albemarle

Albemarle shares touched a three-year low on Tuesday after Baird analyst Ben Kallo noted concerns about weak lithium pricing and the company’s second-quarter earnings. Shares of the lithium miner were recently down 6.5% to $92.64, after falling to $91.21. The stock has fallen about 36% this year. Kallo lowered the price target on the shares to $127 from $170. Kallo said in a research note that he believes the company will have a weak second quarter and revise its estimates downward to reflect a slower recovery in lithium pricing and demand for electric vehicles. The analyst sees second-quarter earnings of zero cents a share, compared with a consensus estimate of 60 cents a share. For 2024, he expects EPS of $1.96, versus a consensus of $3.14. Although the Baird analyst said data on EV deliveries, strong China sales data, and original equipment manufacturers maintaining EV transition targets might represent a […]

Lithium supplies are expected to rise and potentially push down prices of the battery metal, Morgan Stanley analysts say. Australia’s spodumene shipments should start to improve in the coming months and African shipments should also recover following the end of the wet season, say the MS analysts. China is likely to record another year of strong production growth after easing environmental restrictions, and Chile’s exports are touching all-time highs, they add. “While the lithium price has held up well year-to-date, a loosening [supply-demand] balance from here brings downside risks,” say the analysts. “The China lithium carbonate price is currently trading close to our base case of $13,500/ton but we see room for it to fall below this, with the price already starting to roll over recently.”

Albemarle (ALB)Q1 2024 Earnings CallMay 02, 2024, 9:00 a.m. ET Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:   Operator Hello and welcome to Albemarle Corporation’s Q1 2024 earnings call. I will now hand it over to Meredith Bandy, vice president of investor relations and sustainability. Meredith Bandy — Vice President, Investor Relations and Sustainability Thank you. Welcome everyone to Albemarle’s first-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Our earnings were released after the close of market yesterday, and you’ll find the press release and earnings presentation posted to our website under the Investor Section at albemarle.com. Joining me on the call today are Kent Masters, chief executive officer; and Neal Sheorey, chief financial officer. Netha Johnson, president of Specialties; and Eric Norris, president of Energy Storage are also available for Q&A. As a reminder, some of the statements made during this call, including our outlook, guidance, expected company performance, and timing of expansion

CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows: We cut our 12-month target by $66 to $230 on a forward P/E of 12x our ’24 EPS estimate, well below the five-year average of 22.8x, but higher than the one-year average of 9.5x due to increased capacity in ’24. We lower our ’23 EPS view by $9.16 to $23.26, ’24’s by $7.71 to $19.20, and set ’25’s as $21.22. Q3 sales rose 10% Y/Y on higher volumes (+40%) (higher demand) in the Energy Storage segment (73% of Q3 sales) and higher pricing in the Ketjen segment. Significantly lower margins were due to lower lithium market pricing. ALB missed consensus EPS estimates by $0.96. Despite tough Q3 results, driven by lower lithium market pricing, we keep our bullish long-term outlook on lithium demand due to robust global

Albemarle (ALB) reported Q3 adjusted earnings late Wednesday of $2.74 per diluted share, down from $7.50 a year earlier. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expected $3.74. Net sales for the quarter ended Sept. 30 were $2.31 billion, compared with $2.09 billion a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Capital IQ expected $2.53 billion. For 2023, the company said it now expects adjusted earnings of $21.50 to $23.50 per diluted share, from a prior outlook of $25 to $29.50. Analysts surveyed by Capital IQ expect $22.96. The company now expects net sales to be between $9.5 billion and $9.8 billion for the year, from its previous range of $10.4 billion to $11.5 billion. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expect $9.62 billion.

Albemarle Sees FY23 Net Sales Up 30%-35%.

Piper Sandler analyst Charles Neivert downgrades Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) from Overweight to Neutral and lowers the price target from $255 to $155.

B of A Securities analyst Matthew DeYoe downgrades Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) from Neutral to Underperform and lowers the price target from $212 to $161.

Albemarle scrapped its proposed $4.16 billion takeover of Liontown Resources, citing the difficulty of completing one of the biggest-ever lithium deals after Australia’s richest woman bought a large stake in the company. Liontown said on Monday that Albemarle withdrew its cash offer of 3.0 Australian dollars (US$1.89) per share. Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting last week announced that it had acquired a 19.9% equity stake in Liontown. “Albemarle has advised Liontown that its decision to withdraw its proposal was due to the growing complexities associated with executing the transaction,” Liontown said in a market filing.