Albemarle Corporation: A premier Specialty Chemicals Company
Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock Albermarle (ALB) is a leading specialty chemicals company, best-known as being the world’s largest producer of lithium, the metal needed to produce electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company serves a variety of end markets, including petroleum refining, consumer electronics, energy storage, construction, and automotive. Albermarle has three major business segments:
1. Energy Storage:The energy storage accounts for the vast majority of ALB’s revenue. The unit focuses on serving the lithium-ion battery revolution and the transition to clean energy.
2. Specialties Unit:This unit combines the company’s bromine business with its specialized lithium solutions, focusing on applications in pharmaceuticals, automotive, and other industries.
3. Ketjen:This wholly owned subsidiary focused on advanced catalyst solutions for refining.
Albermarle: An Electric EV Market Drives Growth
In 2025, the U.S. electric vehicle market share was ~10% of total vehicle sales. However, by the early 2030s, Bloomberg expects EV sales to swell to 50% of all new vehicle sales.
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Albermarle is perfectly positioned to benefit from the rather predictable, secular electric vehicle bull market, which will require battery-grade lithium. Albermarle expects lithium demand to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of ~15-30% into the end of the decade, mainly driven by increased global EV sales (particularly from China and Europe). Meanwhile, Albermarle will also benefit from the AI data center-driven increase in demand as big tech companies seek grid lithium batteries for grid storage. Additionally, Albermarle is likely to see a new revenue source for its lithium as companies like Tesla (TSLA) begin selling their humanoid robots (which will run on lithium batteries).
Wall Street Expects Explosive Growth in ALB
Zacks Consensus Estimates predict that ALB will swing to an annual profit in 2026. Meanwhile, EPS growth is expected to surge 911.39% in 2026 and a robust 42.18% in 2027.
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Albermarle’s Cost Savings Program Bears Fruit
Albemarle remains focused on executing its cost-saving program and productivity goals. During the third quarter of 2025, Albemarle made progress with the earlier announced comprehensive review of its cost and operating structure. The company expects to deliver roughly $450 million in cost and productivity improvements in 2025, having surpassed its initial target of $300-$400 million. The cost savings will be driven by the elimination of redundancies, lower management layers, productivity benefits, and optimized manufacturing costs. The projected savings are in addition $100 million in cost savings announced and executed in 2024.
ALB Offers Low Risk Entry Zone
ALB shares delivered one of the steadiest uptrends in 2025, more than doubling. After a 13-week ‘frozen rope’ rally, ALB shares have retreated to the intermediate 10-week moving average. The first pullback to the 10-week moving average in a raging uptrend offers investors a low-risk entry zone.
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Bottom Line
After doubling in 2025, Albermarle is currently offering a low-risk entry point for investors. With a projected 15-30% CAGR in lithium and a disciplined cost-cutting program, ALB shares are primed to continue their robust performance in 2026.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
