Good call Mick. Albemarle Climbs as Lithium Producer Beats Forecasts Albemarle Corp. (ALB) climbed 5.98% to $87.76 Thursday after the lithium producer beat Wall Street's fourth-quarter earnings and revenue expectations. The Charlotte-based company reported earnings of $129.6 million, or $1.21 a share, compared with a loss of $218.4 million, or $1.95 a share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings came to $1.53 a share, beating analysts' expectations of $1.46. Revenue totaled $921.7 million, up 7% from a year ago, and bested Wall Street's estimates of $889.9 million. The company said revenue growth was driven by increased sales volumes and the favorable impact of sales pricing in each of Albemarle's reportable segments. Revenue was partially offset by the impact of the divestiture of the polyolefin catalysts and components portion of the performance catalyst solutions business to W.R. Grace & Co. during 2018. Lithium sales for the quarter were up 18% over a year ago to $341.6 million. For the year, Albemarle reported profit of $693.6 million, or $6.34 a share, and revenue totaled $3.37 billion. The company said lithium increased net sales on pricing increases of 4% and 9% in the fourth quarter and full-year 2018, respectively, and volume increases from the prior year. Albemarle said it expects full-year earnings in the range of $6.10 to $6.50 a share, with revenue in the range of $3.65 billion to $3.85 billion. The company said growth will be driven by increased volume in its core lithium business, while the bromine specialties and catalysts businesses will be stable. Albemarle said it is not "forecasting any significant macroeconomic headwinds and have not seen any decline in our customer demand forecasts."
I have received a very rare bullish signal popped up on algo on lithium. As an aside oil still bearish, coal bullish, market in general not bearish.
Bought 3 lithium stocks on open, GXY, $1.585 ORE, $3.65 PLS. $0.70 There's a little story to this, but later, just busy atm.
On Friday I let slip an opportunity to grab a trading opportunity staring me in the face. Hoping the above trades compensate somewhat to my sleepy thinking. Over the past couple of weeks I have been complaining to myself mentally that bargain trading opportunities seem to be sparce of late. Lithium has been in free fall for approx a year and a half and I've been holding one lithium stock INR for quite some time, underwater atm on that one 44%. Consequently not really enamoured with lithium, especially considering most if not all ASX lithium plays are not making a profit. Thursday and Friday last week USA time there were bullish signals on lithium. So what had I done about that? Nothing! Well my sleepy thinking woke up over the weekend, my brain wave was, even though I'm not in love with loss making ASX lithium stocks, they are amongst the most heavily shorted and I'm seeing bullish signals in the lithium sector. So today I hit 3 of the most shorted stocks, let's see how this plays out. BTW, Friday those stocks above which today I bought were up about 7% each. Today they are down (about 3 hours since our mkt opened), but our mkt has been smacked down across the board due to the news re Trump China tarrif drama.
....so a day later, sold two speculative lithium positions: GXY @ $1.515, @ 5% loss ORE @ $3.45, @ 6% loss Both positions showing no conviction in a rising materials market. Shorts have the upper hand with them and I can't win this battle. Continuing to hold PLS which is showing atm 8% profit after 1 day after fees. Will revisit GXY & ORE at a later date should they change in sentiment for the better.
Yeah, just a bit of general mkt negative sentiment alround. Here in Oz today lithium positions were flat to negative. Gold was the only thing shining today. Saying that, the day ended down here across the board but stocks were closing up on their bars. Lithium just a bit volatile, shaking out weak hand that are left, I'm calling a turn up about now.
Battery makers move slower on hydroxide, says US lithium producer Peter KerResources reporter May 8, 2019 — 10.20am Battery manufacturers' preference for lithium in hydroxide form is progressing slower than expected, according to a major US lithium producer. The trend towards lithium hydroxide at the expense of lithium carbonate has boosted the global competitiveness of Australian lithium miners, and sparked a rush to develop processing plants to convert Western Australia's vast reserves of spodumene rock into lithium hydroxide for batteries. Wesfarmers' $776 million bid for Kidman Resources last week was based largely on Wesfarmers' desire to be a producer of lithium hydroxide, which enables batteries to store more energy. New York-listed lithium producer Livent said on Wednesday it still believed in the lithium hydroxide thematic long term. It added, though, that battery manufacturers were flagging they would progress slower than previously expected on the development of nickel cathode battery chemistries, which are driving demand for lithium hydroxide. ''We are seeing weaker near-term demand for our high-performance lithium hydroxide, as several major customers have informed us about recent decisions to delay their own commercial launches of high-nickel cathode chemistries,” Livent chief executive Paul Graves said. “This will result in lower delivered volumes of lithium hydroxide to these customers in 2019 than previously indicated and lower overall sales volumes for the year. In addition, it will result in Livent selling more hydroxide in China for use in cathode chemistries, where performance requirements are not as high. ''Livent does not expect to see a meaningful change in demand for high-performance lithium hydroxide for use in high-nickel cathode chemistries until late 2019 or early 2020 and has reduced its full-year forecasts for volume and pricing accordingly.'' Livent duly lowered its revenue and earnings guidance on Wednesday because of operational disruptions and the weaker-than-expected demand. But Livent was adamant lithium hydroxide demand would be strong in the longer term. “Despite weaker current market conditions, the outlook for electric vehicles and lithium demand remains positive,” Mr Graves said. “We have seen multiple [car manufacturers] announcing more detailed plans for new [electric vehicle] model launches. Importantly, for the first time they are now specifying performance requirements that will require the use of high-nickel cathode chemistries, which increases our confidence in the growing importance of high-performance lithium hydroxide.” Many Australian lithium stocks have halved in value over the past 15 months on the back of fears about increased supply of the battery mineral, and on weaker pricing in China. Mineral Resources, which has exposure to two lithium mines in Western Australia, confirmed last week that lithium-rich spodumene concentrate from the Mount Marion mine was selling for 36 per cent less than it was in September 2018. Kidman shares were trading at $1.87 on Wednesday morning, just below the $1.90-per-share offer price lobbed by Wesfarmers. The preliminary deal is undergoing due diligence, and is expected to be formally confirmed by the end the month. https://www.afr.com/business/energy...xide-says-us-lithium-producer-20190508-p51l4j
Hmmm, ok, Thursday morning here, waking up see lithium stocks smashed. Livent in particular. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-sales-drop-after-chilean-rains-idUSKCN1SE2PP