Bullish indicating open at $55-$60, IPO prices at $37
Investing.com - Bank of America maintained its Buy rating on Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) with a price target of $84, citing potential upside due to near-term lithium price momentum. According to InvestingPro data, the stock has shown strong momentum with a 10.09% gain over the past week, trading at $82.70, while analyst targets range widely from $58 to $200.
The investment bank noted that lithium prices have "rallied hard off a June bottom" and expects recent news about CATL to drive additional price increases. BofA’s current model forecasts lithium carbonate spot prices of $9.5/kg in 2026, exceeding $15/kg by 2027 and reaching $20/kg by 2030. Despite current market challenges reflected in its 8.19% gross profit margin, Albemarle maintains strong liquidity with a current ratio of 2.31.
While BofA’s price objective remains at $84, the firm highlighted that its discounted cash flow analysis (NAV) component values Albemarle at $109, suggesting significant potential upside from current levels. For deeper insights into Albemarle’s valuation and 8 additional key metrics, access the comprehensive Pro Research Report available on InvestingPro.
The bank does not believe CATL’s outage changes medium or long-term market dynamics, but acknowledges that near-term price rallies would drive upside to its EBITDA and NAV valuation methodologies.
BofA maintains its Buy rating on Albemarle based on what it describes as "the current troughed market, long-term fundamentals, and upside to our net asset value framework which becomes more evident in bullish market scenarios."
In other recent news, Albemarle Corporation reported its second-quarter 2025 earnings, surpassing revenue forecasts with a total of $1.33 billion, exceeding expectations of $1.22 billion by 9.02%. Despite the revenue beat, the company posted earnings per share of $0.11, which was below the projected -$0.78, resulting in a surprise of -114.1%. Oppenheimer responded to these results by raising Albemarle’s stock price target to $109.00 from $107.00, while maintaining an Outperform rating. The company chose to maintain its existing guidance following its strong quarterly results. Meanwhile, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) has suspended operations at its Jianxiawo lithium mine due to a lapsed permit, affecting 2-3% of the global lithium supply. CATL is in talks with the Chinese government for a permit renewal, expecting the mine to remain offline for several months. This development has led to a surge in U.S.-listed shares of lithium companies. The mine’s production capacity is approximately 3% of the world’s projected lithium output for 2025.
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