In the latest close session, Albemarle (ALB) was up +1.88% at $161.29. The stock's performance was ahead of the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.65%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.48%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.82%.
Heading into today, shares of the specialty chemicals company had gained 17.62% over the past month, outpacing the Basic Materials sector's gain of 7.44% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.15%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Albemarle in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of -$0.61, indicating a 44.04% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $1.37 billion, showing a 11.18% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of -$1.09 per share and a revenue of $5.08 billion, indicating changes of +53.42% and 0%, respectively, from the former year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Albemarle. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 35.61% higher. Albemarle currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Albemarle is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 124.47. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 15.77.
One should further note that ALB currently holds a PEG ratio of 7.78. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The average PEG ratio for the Chemical - Diversified industry stood at 2.57 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Chemical - Diversified industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 229, finds itself in the bottom 7% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Albemarle Corporation (ALB): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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