Albemarle Corporation (ALB) AI Stock Analysis

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and distributes engineered specialty chemicals across three core segments: Lithium, Bromine, and Catalysts. The Lithium segment produces lithium compounds for consumer electronics, electric vehicle batteries, greases, and thermoplastic elastomers, while providing recycling services and cesium products. The Bromine segment supplies bromine and derivatives used in fire safety, drilling fluids, water purification, and industrial chemical synthesis. The Catalysts segment delivers specialized catalysts for hydroprocessing, alkylation, and fluid catalytic cracking in petroleum refining and petrochemical processing. Founded in 1887 and based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Albemarle serves global energy storage, automotive, pharmaceutical, and agricultural markets.

Albemarle experienced rapid top-line growth from $3.33B in FY2021 to a peak of $9.62B in FY2023, before contracting to $5.38B in FY2024 and $5.14B in FY2025. Over the five years from FY2020 to FY2025, revenue expanded at a compound annual growth rate of 10.4%. Net income shifted from $2.69B in FY2022 to net losses of -$1.18B in FY2024 and -$510.6M in FY2025. However, free cash flow improved to $692.5M in FY2025 from -$992.7M in FY2024. For the trailing twelve months ending June 30, 2026, revenue was $5.91B with an operating margin of 27.7%. In the latest quarter, quarterly revenue grew 31.1% year-over-year, while quarterly earnings declined 66.2%.

As of June 30, 2026, Albemarle held $1.63B in cash and short-term investments against total debt of $1.99B, resulting in net debt of $354.1M. Shareholders' equity stood at $10.28B, yielding a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 2.09. In FY2025, operating cash flow generated $1.28B, supporting capital expenditures of $589.8M and dividend payments of $357.3M. Share count increased 16.4% over five years, with share issuance of $3.2M in FY2025.

Albemarle trades at a trailing P/E of 353.6x and a forward P/E of 11.4x, compared to the median of its S&P 500 Basic Materials peers of 30.9x and 15.3x, respectively. Its enterprise value to EBITDA ratio is 16.1x versus the peer median of 14.0x, while its price-to-sales multiple is 1.9x compared to the peer median of 2.5x. The stock has underperformed the broader market, returning 1.3% over the past year and -55.6% over five years, compared to returns of 16.8% and 83.0% for the S&P 500 (SPY).

Albemarle pays a quarterly dividend with an annualized forward rate of $1.64 per share, representing a dividend yield of 1.72%. The payout ratio stands at 27.2%. Albemarle has paid dividends for 33 consecutive years, with an annualized 5-year dividend growth rate of 1.0%. The most recent ex-dividend date was September 11, 2026.

Wall Street coverage includes 11 Strong Buy, 3 Buy, and 9 Hold ratings, with no Sell or Strong Sell ratings. The mean price target is $161.78, indicating a 69.4% premium over the last close of $95.48. For the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026, consensus estimates project revenue of $6.12B and EPS of $11.47. The company beat EPS estimates in 3 of the last 4 quarters, and its next earnings date is November 4, 2026.

This page is an AI-written research summary of Albemarle Corporation (ALB). The text was generated on October 30, 2026 from Quotelinks data as of October 16, 2026 (company profile, annual results, latest balance sheet, valuation, price performance and analyst estimates). An automatic check rejects any draft that contains a figure not found in that data. It is not investment advice; verify figures on the linked tabs before making decisions.

Related: ALB income statement, ALB balance sheet, ALB key metrics, ALB analyst forecast, ALB chart. See the ALB stock overview for the latest quote and news.