Albemarle price target lowered to $162 from $168 at Loop Capital

Loop Capital lowered the firm’s price target on Albemarle to $162 from $168 but keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm notes nvestor consternation and generally poor sentiment for the company, which may have been exacerbated by its $2B convert offering last week and perceived by investors more out of weakness than strength, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Loop adds however that the pricing downdraft in lithium has been more about what has transpired in China – an arguably-massive, but now rationalized overbuild of downstream automotive OEM and/or battery and/or cell capacity “downstream”. While the hybrid growth has been outpacing battery EV growth in China, Albemarle notes that this hybrid penetration has been more at the expense of platforms based on the internal combustion engine, and is not cannibalizing BEV unit growth/penetration, Loop added.