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Albemarle (ALB) Stock Dips While Market Gains: Key Facts

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In the latest trading session, Albemarle (ALB - Free Report) closed at $87.44, marking a -1.2% move from the previous day. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.54%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.72%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.65%.

The specialty chemicals company's shares have seen an increase of 11.83% over the last month, surpassing the Basic Materials sector's gain of 2.05% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.86%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Albemarle in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is expected to report EPS of -$0.03, down 101.09% from the prior-year quarter. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $1.39 billion, showing a 39.92% drop compared to the year-ago quarter.

ALB's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $0.70 per share and revenue of $5.61 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -96.85% and -41.62%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Albemarle should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 29.26% lower. Right now, Albemarle possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Albemarle is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 127.34. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 16.37 for its industry.

One should further note that ALB currently holds a PEG ratio of 7.96. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. ALB's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.12 as of yesterday's close.

The Chemical - Diversified industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 212, positioning it in the bottom 17% of all 250+ industries.

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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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