Cluenex
Log inStart free
All stocks · Basic Materials · Specialty Chemicals

Albemarle Corporation ALB

Albemarle Corporation scores weak on business quality (3.6 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.

Last price$101.27Oct 9, 2026
Business qualityWeak
Next earningsNov 4, 2026, after the close
Insiders, 90 daysQuiet

Why it matters

  1. What Albemarle Corporation does

    Albemarle refines lithium and specialty chemicals, selling directly to energy storage and industrial manufacturers. Electric vehicle and battery makers pay for its raw materials to power global electrification.

  2. What it does best

    Albemarle extracts and processes lithium at massive scale, sitting in the top quartile of its sector for free cash flow margin at 92%. This processing footprint takes years to build, protecting its market share from quick replication by chemical rivals.

  3. The main risk

    Lithium price volatility is the primary threat, capable of crushing revenues as seen in the drop from $9.6 billion in 2023 to $5.9 billion latest. When spot prices tumble, top-line growth stalls immediately.

Quality, check by check

Scored against its own industry, from company filings.

ProfitabilityFair

Gross margin sits at 23.9% with an operating margin of 14.1%, showing compressed profitability compared to historical peaks as lower product pricing limits earnings leverage.

MoatWeak

Operating in a commodity space, the company lacks a durable moat, registering in the bottom quartile for revenue growth and struggling to maintain pricing power against low-cost rivals.

GrowthSlow

Revenue growth is contracting at -4.4% annually, a sharp fade from the peak levels seen in 2023 as lithium market pricing pressures weigh heavily on the top line.

Financial healthFair

Debt-to-equity sits at 0.3x with interest coverage at 4.3x, keeping debt manageable while free cash flow rebounded to $1.3B, leaving the balance sheet stabilizing.

Insiders

Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.

No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.

Our sealed record on ALB

Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.

The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.

Questions

Is ALB a good business?

Albemarle Corporation scores weak on the Cluenex quality check (3.6 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is fair, moat weak, growth slow and financial health fair.

Are insiders buying ALB?

In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.

When does ALB report earnings?

Nov 4, 2026, after the close.

For members

See ALB today

  • Today's verdict on ALB, and why
  • Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
  • The exact price that would change the verdict
  • Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Open in Cluenex Free to start. First month of Core free.

Cite this page: Cluenex, “Albemarle Corporation (ALB)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/alb/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.