ALB Stock Garners Retail Attention As Lithium Bulls Return

Albemarle Corp shares rose 2.6% in premarket trading on Tuesday, following a Deutsche Bank upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’.

• Deutsche Bank cited a ‘more optimistic and bullish outlook’ on the lithium sector.
• On Monday, Scotiabank upgraded Albemarle to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Sector Perform’ with a $200 price target.
• The stock is on track to open at its highest levels in over 2 years.

Albemarle Corp. (ALB) caught retail investors’ attention after its shares rose 3.2% in premarket trading on Tuesday, following a Deutsche Bank upgrade driven by a “more optimistic and bullish outlook” on the lithium sector.

ALB stock is on track to open at its highest levels since October 2023.

Bullish Street Action

Deutsche Bank raised its rating on the stock to “buy” from “hold” and set a price target of $185, implying about 7% upside from current levels. The brokerage added that the increasing spot lithium prices signal an “influx of investor interest back into the sector.”

Albemarle drew fresh attention this week after multiple Wall Street firms lifted their price targets, reflecting a more constructive outlook on the lithium market. Mizuho raised its target to $156 from $132 while maintaining a ‘Neutral’ rating, citing higher spot lithium prices and tightening inventories. UBS also increased its price target to $205 from $185 and reiterated a ‘Buy’ rating.

Adding to the bullish momentum, Scotiabank upgraded Albemarle to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Sector Perform’ with a $200 price target. The firm said its more optimistic stance on lithium is driven by expectations of a multi-year supply tightening cycle. Scotiabank believes the market has only completed the first leg of that cycle and raised its long-term lithium price assumptions accordingly.

Lithium price was up nearly 5% at CNY159,500 per ton on Tuesday.      

How Did Retail React?

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits turned ‘extremely bullish’ over the past 24 hours, from ‘bullish, amid ‘extremely high’ message volumes.

One user expects the stock to hit $200.

Another bullish user speculated on ALB’s price based on lithium price cycles.

Over the past year, the stock has gained nearly 97%.

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