Albemarle Swings to Profit as Lithium Pricing Rebounds
Albemarle posted net income of $319 million in the first quarter, reversing a $414 million loss in the prior period as lithium prices and Energy Storage volumes both climbed.
Albemarle (ALB), the specialty chemicals producer and one of the world's largest lithium suppliers, swung to a profit of $319 million, or $2.34 a share, in the first quarter of 2026, reversing a net loss of $(414) million, or $(3.87) a share, in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The turnaround marked an inflection point after a stretch in which the company's results were distorted by one-time items. The prior quarter's loss reflected tax-related charges and a write-down tied to Ketjen, a catalyst-technologies business Albemarle has since sold. The first-quarter profit reflected a business running on higher volumes and, increasingly, higher prices across its core lithium franchise.
Net sales rose 33% year-over-year to $1.43 billion in the first quarter, accelerating from 16% growth in the fourth quarter, when sales totaled $1.4 billion. Adjusted EBITDA reached $664 million, up 148% from a year earlier, compared with 7% growth in the prior quarter.
Energy Storage, Albemarle's lithium-focused segment, drove the shift. Adjusted EBITDA in the segment climbed 196% in the first quarter, with Specialties EBITDA up 30%. The composition of Energy Storage's growth also changed: in the fourth quarter, volume growth of 17% outpaced pricing, but by the first quarter, price became the dominant driver, up 51% year-over-year, against volume growth of 14%.
The swing to profitability was aided by a sharply lower tax burden. Albemarle's effective income tax rate improved to 8.5% in the first quarter from (55.2)% in the fourth quarter, when a valuation-allowance charge had distorted the figure; on an adjusted basis, the rate fell to 5.2% from 561.1%.
Albemarle completed two divestitures during the quarter that reshaped its portfolio. The company closed the sale of its 50% stake in the Eurecat joint venture for $123 million in January 2026, followed by the sale of a controlling stake in Ketjen to KPS Capital Partners on March 2, 2026. The two transactions generated combined net cash proceeds of $648 million to $670 million, which Albemarle used to pay down debt. Ketjen, which had contributed 39% EBITDA growth in the fourth quarter, no longer appears among the company's reported segments.
The company applied $1.3 billion of those proceeds and other cash to debt reduction in the first quarter, lowering its weighted average interest rate.
Albemarle raised its full-year 2026 outlook in the first-quarter release, lifting its Specialties sales and EBITDA outlook and citing reduced interest expense from the debt paydown. The revision builds on the initial 2026 outlook scenarios the company introduced in the fourth quarter, which had been framed around a range of lithium price assumptions. Capital expenditure guidance for the year was narrowed to $550 million to $600 million, consistent with the roughly flat spending plan laid out in the prior quarter off a 2025 base of $590 million.
Separately, Albemarle's board added Eduardo Bartolomeo as a director effective July 21, 2026, following the February 26 appointments of Michelle T. Collins and Mark R. Widmar.