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21 March
Albemarle (ALB) Surpasses Market Returns: Some Facts Worth Knowing

Albemarle (ALB) closed the most recent trading day at $124.86, moving +0.33% from the previous trading session. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.32%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.68%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.2%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the specialty chemicals company had gained 4.98% over the past month. This has lagged the Basic Materials sector's gain of 6.63% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.11% in that time.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Albemarle in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.56, indicating a 94.57% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $1.45 billion, reflecting a 43.86% fall from the equivalent quarter last year.

ALB's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.37 per share and revenue of $5.72 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -84.85% and -40.53%, respectively.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Albemarle. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 21.88% decrease. As of now, Albemarle holds a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).

In terms of valuation, Albemarle is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 36.98. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 18.67.

We can also see that ALB currently has a PEG ratio of 2.31. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. As the market closed yesterday, the Chemical - Diversified industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.13.

The Chemical - Diversified industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 197, this industry ranks in the bottom 22% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.