Albemarle Corporation (ALB) logged earnings of 29 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2024. In the year-ago quarter, the company had reported a loss of $5.26 per share. 

Barring one-time items, adjusted loss for the reported quarter came in at $1.09 per share. It was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 49 cents. 

Find the latest earnings estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Revenues fell roughly 48% year over year to $1,231.7 million in the quarter. It missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,311.5 million. The top line was hurt by lower prices and volumes in the Energy Storage segment, partly offset by the volume growth in the Specialties unit.

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 63% year over year to $616.8 million. It missed the consensus estimate of $738 million. The decline in sales was attributed to reduced pricing and volumes. Sales volumes fell due to the timing of chemical-grade spodumene sales and lithium processing plant outages.

The Specialties segment recorded sales of $332.9 million, down around 2% year over year. It was below the consensus estimate of $342 million. Lower pricing impacted sales, partly offset by increased volumes.

The Ketjen unit recorded revenues of $281.9 million in the reported quarter, down roughly 17% year over year. It was below the consensus estimate of $300 million. Higher prices were more than offset by reduced volumes.

ALB’s FY24 Results

Loss (as reported) for full-year 2024 was $11.20 per share. This is in contrast to earnings of $13.36 per share a year ago. Net sales declined around 44% year over year to $5,377.5 million.

Albemarle’s Financial Position

Albemarle ended 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of roughly $1,192.2 million, up around 34% year over year. Long-term debt was around $3,118.1 million, down around 12% from the prior year.

Cash from operations was $702 million for full-year 2024, down around 47% year over year.

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.

The company has lowered expected capital expenditures for full-year 2025 by $100 million. It now sees capital expenditures 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 expected to be $180-$210 million for the full year.

ALB Stock’s Price Performance

Albemarle’s shares have lost 31.7% in the past year compared with the Zacks Chemicals Diversified industry’s 0.5% rise.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

ALB’s Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

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

Better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Ingevity Corporation NGVT, ICL Group Ltd ICL and Nutrien Ltd. NTR. While NGVT carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), ICL and NTR have a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Ingevity is scheduled to release fourth-quarter results on Feb.18. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NGVT’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 12 cents. NGVT surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters while missing once. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 95.4%, on average.  

ICL Group is slated to release fourth-quarter results on Feb.26. The consensus estimate for ICL’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 6 cents. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters at an average of 18.1%.

Nutrien is scheduled to release fourth-quarter results on Feb.19. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NTR’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 33 cents. NTR has gained around 2% in the past year.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Albemarle Corporation (ALB) : Free Stock Analysis Report

ICL Group Ltd. (ICL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Ingevity Corporation (NGVT) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Nutrien Ltd. (NTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research