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Albemarle (ALB) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Albemarle (ALB - Free Report) closed at $115.05 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.8% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.82%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.41%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.95%.

The the stock of specialty chemicals company has fallen by 15.45% in the past month, lagging the Basic Materials sector's loss of 4.99% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.59%.

The upcoming earnings release of Albemarle will be of great interest to investors. The company's earnings report is expected on February 14, 2024. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $1.09, marking an 87.35% fall compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $2.3 billion, indicating a 12.17% decline compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Albemarle. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 48.53% decrease. Albemarle is currently a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

In the context of valuation, Albemarle is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 16.98. This denotes a premium relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 16.84.

Also, we should mention that ALB has a PEG ratio of 1.51. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The Chemical - Diversified was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.53 at yesterday's closing price.

The Chemical - Diversified industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 226, this industry ranks in the bottom 11% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.


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