New York, Jan 9, 2026, 06:56 EST — Premarket
Albemarle (ALB.N) shares edged higher in premarket trading on Friday, riding a broker upgrade and fresh signs of strength in lithium prices. The stock was up about 0.6% at $159.20 as of 6:56 a.m. ET, after ending Thursday at $158.28.
Baird analyst Ben Kallo upgraded Albemarle this week and raised his price target to $210 from $113, Barron’s reported. The brokerage also lifted its 2026 earnings forecast to $5.35 a share, the report said.
The call lands as China’s lithium market stays jumpy. Spot battery‑grade lithium carbonate — a key chemical for lithium‑ion batteries — averaged 133,500 yuan ($/mt) on Jan. 7, up 6,000 yuan from the prior session, SMM data showed. The most‑traded lithium carbonate futures contract jumped more than 7% at the open and briefly hit 147,000 yuan before easing back toward 140,000.
Baird said battery‑grade lithium carbonate prices have climbed to nearly $16 a kilogram from about $11 a month ago, helped by energy‑storage demand and supply rationalisation in China. It flagged $15/kg as an important level for Albemarle because its earnings can swing hard when lithium pricing moves, and said the recent strength may partly reflect pre‑Lunar New Year stocking. The brokerage said Albemarle trades well below peers on EV/EBITDA — a valuation multiple that compares a firm’s value with its operating profit — and set a base case for 2027 EBITDA of $1.39 billion, with an upside case of as much as $1.8 billion if lithium prices keep rising.
Another Wall Street turn helped set the tone earlier in the week. Jefferies raised its price target to $167 from $78 on Tuesday, Barron’s reported, pointing to new demand that could extend beyond electric vehicles into robotics and autonomous systems that use lithium‑ion batteries.
The stock has still been hard to pin down day to day. Albemarle traded between $155.34 and $162.59 in Thursday’s session, with roughly 2.9 million shares changing hands, Yahoo Finance data showed — levels traders often treat as near‑term markers going into the bell.
Peers were mixed heading into Friday. Lithium Americas (LAC.N) was up 1.6% in premarket trading, while U.S.-listed shares of Chile’s SQM (SQM.N) fell 1.3% in the previous session and the Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT.P) slipped 0.6%.
There’s a downside case, and it’s not subtle. China’s industry ministry this week warned battery makers about overcapacity, a reminder that price competition and policy nudges can hit the battery supply chain fast — and the materials market tends to follow.
Traders are also watching the macro tape. Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report is due, and any shift in rate expectations can ripple into metals-linked stocks; “There are lots of potential potholes out there, but so far we seem to be skipping our way around them,” Rick Meckler at Cherry Lane Investments said in a Reuters report. Albemarle’s next scheduled catalyst is its quarterly report, with TipRanks listing Feb. 18 after the close. reuters.com
