Albemarle's Earnings & Revenues Surpass Estimates in Q2

Albemarle Corporation ALB logged adjusted earnings (barring one-time items) of 11 cents per share in the second quarter of 2025. This compares to earnings of 4 cents per share a year ago. Earnings per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 83 cents.

Revenues fell roughly 7% year over year to $1,330 million in the quarter. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,243.2 million. The top line was hurt by lower prices in the Energy Storage segment, partly offset by the volume growth in the Energy Storage and Specialties unit.

Adjusted EBITDA for the reported quarter was $336.5 million, down from $386.4 million in the prior-year quarter. A decline in lithium pricing more than offset lower average input costs and ALB’s cost reduction actions.

Albemarle Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Albemarle Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Albemarle Corporation Quote

ALB’s Segment Highlights

Sales from the Energy Storage unit fell around 13.5% year over year to $717.7 million. It surpassed the consensus estimate of $589.4 million. The decline in sales was attributed to reduced pricing. Sales volumes were up 15% as record production at the company’s integrated conversion network offset lower tolling volumes.

The Specialties segment recorded sales of $351.6 million, up around 5.1% year over year. It was above the consensus estimate of $344.7 million. Increased volumes more than offset low prices.

The Ketjen unit recorded revenues of $260.8 million in the reported quarter, down roughly 1.8% year over year. It marginally beat the consensus estimate of $260 million. Higher prices were more than offset by reduced volumes.

Albemarle’s Financial Position

Albemarle ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of roughly $1,806.8 million, up from $1,518.5 million reported in the prior quarter. Long-term debt was around $3,178.1 million, up around 1.6% sequentially.

Cash from operations was around $538 million for the first half of 2025, up 15.7% from the prior-year period.

ALB’s 2025 Outlook

Albemarle is taking actions to improve costs, productivity and efficiencies to preserve its long-term competitive position. The company is expecting growth in volumes in key end markets in the Specialties unit.

ALB expects capital expenditures for full-year 2025 in the range of $650-$700 million.

ALB expects depreciation and amortization expenses of $630-$670 million for 2025. Corporate costs are expected to be $40-$70 million, while Interest and financing expenses are forecast to be $180-$210 million for the full year.

ALB Stock’s Price Performance

Albemarle’s shares have lost 24.9% in the past year compared with the Zacks Chemicals Diversified industry’s 19.4% decline.

ALB’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

ALB currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Better-ranked stocks worth a look in the basic materials space include Royal Gold, Inc. RGLD, Lithium Americas Corp. LAC and MAG SilverCorp. MAG.

Royal Gold is slated to report second-quarter results on Aug. 6. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.70 per share. RGLD’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average surprise being 9%. Royal Gold flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Lithium America is expected to report second-quarter results on Aug. 12. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LAC’s second-quarter earnings is pegged at a loss of 4 cents per share, indicating year-over-year growth of 20%. LAC’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in one of the last four quarters but missed it in the rest. LAC currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

MAG Silver is slated to report second-quarter results on Aug. 11. The consensus estimate for MAG’s earnings is pegged at 26 cents per share. MAG carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present. MAG Silver’s earnings beat the consensus estimate in three of the last four quarters, while missing it in one, with the average surprise being 2.01%.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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