Albemarle's Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Miss on Lower Prices

Albemarle Corporation ALB logged adjusted loss (barring one-time items) of 18 cents per share in the first quarter of 2025. This compares to earnings of 26 cents per share a year ago. Loss per share was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 62 cents. 

Revenues fell roughly 21% year over year to $1,076.9 million in the quarter. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,171.4 million. The top line was hurt by lower prices in the Energy Storage segment, partly offset by the volume growth in the Specialties unit.

Adjusted EBITDA for the reported quarter was $267 million, down from $291 million in the prior-year quarter. A decline in net sales more than offset lower average input costs and ALB’s cost reduction actions.

(Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

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 35% year over year to $524.6 million. It missed the consensus estimate of $589 million. The decline in sales was attributed to reduced pricing. Sales volumes were flat as record production at the company’s integrated conversion network offset lower tolling volumes.

The Specialties segment recorded sales of $321 million, up around 2% year over year. It was below the consensus estimate of $330 million. Lower pricing was more than offset by increased volumes.

The Ketjen unit recorded revenues of $231.3 million in the reported quarter, down roughly 5% year over year. It was below the consensus estimate of $244 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 $1,518.5 million, up around 27% from the prior quarter. Long-term debt was around $3,128.7 million, up around 0.3% sequentially.

Cash from operations was around $545 million for the first quarter, up more than fivefold from the prior-year quarter.

ALB’s Outlook

Albemarle noted that it is taking actions to cut costs, optimize its conversion network and increase efficiencies to preserve its long-term competitive position.

ALB achieved roughly 90% run-rate against the midpoint of $350 million cost and productivity
improvement target through April and identified opportunities to attain the high-end of the $300-$400 million range.

The company expects capital expenditures for full-year 2025 in the range of $700-$800 million.

ALB expects depreciation and amortization expenses of $630-$670 million for 2025. Corporate costs are expected to be $70-$100 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 53.3% in the past year compared with the Zacks Chemicals Diversified industry’s 25.4% decline.

ALB’s Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

ALB currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Hawkins, Inc. HWKN, Kinross Gold Corporation KGC and Intrepid Potash, Inc. IPI. While HWKN carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), KGC and IPI carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Hawkins is expected to report fiscal fourth-quarter results on May 21. The consensus estimate for Hawkins’ fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 74 cents. HWKN beat the consensus estimate in one of the last four quarters while missing thrice, with the average earnings surprise being 6.1%. 

Kinross Gold is scheduled to release first-quarter results on May 6. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KGC’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at 22 cents. OR has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 23.7%, on average.  

Intrepid Potash is slated to release first-quarter results on May 5. The consensus estimate for IPI’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at a loss of 12 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings has been stable over the past 60 days.

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

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