Shares fell 2.9% to $91 in after-hours buying and selling.
The Tesla provider and its friends have been buffeted prior to now yr by lithium oversupply from China and a softening of aggressive EV adoption charges that has dragged down costs for the ultralight steel and delayed expectations for the way lengthy the power transition might take.
Common Motors, for instance, earlier this month backed away from its goal of manufacturing 1 million EVs yearly by 2025 in North America.
Albemarle, with operations throughout the globe, had already slashed workers in January. But lithium costs have continued to tumble, from a median of $20 per kilogram on the finish of final yr to a present vary of roughly $12 to $15 per kg, the corporate mentioned.
“The market isn’t enhancing. It’s truly in all probability getting somewhat worse,” Albemarle CEO Kent Masters advised Reuters. “We’re utilizing the time period ‘decrease for longer’ from a pricing perspective, and we’ve to have the ability to function by way of that downturn.”
To save lots of prices, the corporate is launching a “complete evaluation of its price and working construction” that ought to be full by October, Masters mentioned. Albemarle additionally plans to pause development of an Australian processing unit and idle manufacturing at a second one on the web site.
“We’ll take a look at every part to get us sort of a imply and lean place,” he mentioned, including that further layoffs and asset gross sales are on the desk.
The corporate’s dividend, which has been raised yearly for 30 years, possible wouldn’t be affected. “It’s necessary for our shareholders. So our plan is we might keep on with that,” he mentioned.
The tempo of EV demand progress throughout the globe has this yr didn’t sustain with sturdy expectations, spooking lithium trade buyers. Goldman Sachs analysts, for instance, doesn’t anticipate world lithium demand to outpace provide till 2030.
Outcomes
Albemarle reported a web lack of $188.2 million, or $1.96 per share, in comparison with a web revenue of $650 million, or $5.52 per share, within the year-ago quarter.
Excluding one-time gadgets, Albemarle earned 4 cents per share. By that measure, analysts anticipated earnings of 41 cents per share, in accordance with IBES information from LSEG.
Albemarle did maintain its full-year revenue outlook, helped partially by outcomes from its catalyst division and price cuts, which have saved greater than $150 million this yr.
Regardless of the value drop, Albemarle and its friends have repeatedly mentioned they anticipate demand for lithium to leap later this decade as EVs go mainstream.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based firm plans to debate the quarterly outcomes on a Thursday morning name with buyers.
(By Ernest Scheyder; Modifying by Chizu Nomiyama)