Albemarle falls on weak Q4 results; to idle Australia lithium plant

Albemarle

12/02/2026 16:37

Updates

** Shares of world's largest lithium producer Albemarle ALB.N drop 9% to $159.72

** ALB late on Wednesday said it would idle a major Australian processing plant

** It also posted a larger-than-expected quarterly loss of 53 cents per share vs. analysts' estimates of 41 cents per share - data compiled by LSEG

** Lithium prices have plunged more than 90% over the last two years due in part to oversupply from China

** ALB CEO Kent Masters says in an earnings call that recent lithium price improvements do not offset challenges facing Western Lithium Hard Rock conversion operations

** Expects global lithium demand to grow by 25% this year

** Says CATL's lithium mines in China to come back online in the coming year; CATL is the world’s largest manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries for EVs and energy storage systems

** Including session's moves, ALB up ~12% YTD

(Reporting by Arunima Kumar and Sumit Saha in Bengaluru)

((Arunima.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aru_Kumar94))