By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Albemarle stock (NYSE:ALB) jumped 4.3% in Thursday’s premarket as surging demand for lithium and specialty chemicals boosted sales and margins at the company in the third quarter.
The lithium miner raised its full-year guidance for EBITDA as demand for the metal from end-user industries like mobiles, computers, Internet devices and automobiles remains high in an environment of stretched supply.
Lithium demand has been transformed by the increasing adoption of electric mobility, taking demand for the metal well beyond its historic markets in consumer electronics.
Group sales rose 11% to $830.6 million, while adjusted profit was $123.3 million.
Albermarle's largest division accounting for over 43% of the group total, lithium realized $359.2 million in net sales in the three months through September, rising by more than a third from a year ago.
The company now sees full-year net sales at $3.35 billion and adjusted EBITDA at $845 million at the midpoint of its guidance range, up from $835 million previously. It guided for better volumes and higher pricing and margins in the division than its previous forecast due to tight market conditions.
Business is booming for the company in its other lines as well. It said volumes in bromine, which accounts for 23% of group sales, will remain constrained “due to sold-out conditions and lack of inventory”.
The company took a hit of $657.4 million owing to charges related to an arbitration decision in a dispute regarding Huntsman’s acquisition of Rockwood's Pigments & Additives business in 2014. The Huntsman-Rockwood dispute is a legacy dispute that Albemarle inherited when it bought Rockwood in 2015.