ALB vs LAC Stock Comparison

Albemarle and Lithium Americas Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ALB Albemarle Corp
$93.66 -17.4% 1M -3.8% 1Y
Market cap
$11.07B
P/E
39.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.91B
Div. yield
0.02%
Lithium Basic Materials
3 wins

Head to Head

3 decided of 12

Albemarle leads on 3 of the 12 questions below (Albemarle 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionALBLACLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.07B $747.30M ALB
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 39.8x -25.0x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 8.5x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +18.3% — –
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 4.7% — –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -3.8% -67.9% ALB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -16.6%/yr — –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 55.2% 67.1% ALB
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 63/100 — –

Percentile Scorecard

ALBLAC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisALBLAC
Valuation 93 #13 of 162 92 #14 of 162
Growth 54 #68 of 147 –
Profitability 69 #38 of 122 –
Financial Health 42 #97 of 166 46 #90 of 166
Shareholder Returns 56 #48 of 107 –
Overall 63 –
  • ALB ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining
  • LAC ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodALBLACSPY
1 month -17.4%-28.3% -1.0%
3 months -18.4%-26.2% +2.9%
6 months -50.3%-55.2% +6.4%
Year to date -33.8%-52.3% +11.4%
1 year -3.8%-67.9% +13.1%
3 years -32.7%-69.1% +79.4%
3 years, per year -12.4%-32.4% +21.5%
5 years -59.5%— +67.7%
5 years, per year -16.6%— +10.9%
10 years +13.9%— +255.2%
10 years, per year +1.3%— +13.5%

Risk

MeasureALBLACSPY
Volatility, 1Y 55.2%67.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 54.2%66.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.322.48 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.07-1.01 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -84.4%-82.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -56.6%-69.0% -2.5%
52-week high $215.62$6.72 $779.14
52-week low $88.45$2.08 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleALBLAC
P/E now vs peer median 39.7xmedian 12.7x -25.9xmedian 12.7x
P/S now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 3.1x —median 3.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 6.9x —median 6.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 8.2xmedian 15.1x —median 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 2.1x 0.4xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median -0.66median 0.27 —median 0.27

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsALBLAC
Revenue $5.91B –
Gross profit $1.41B –
Net income $253.32M -$73.07M
Free cash flow $1.34B –
R&D – -$1.00K
EPS (diluted) $2.04 $-0.07
Cash & equivalents $1.63B $822.78M
Total debt $1.88B $1.34B
Shares (diluted) 136.21M 401.74M
Enterprise value $4.80B -$1.54B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricALBLAC
P/E 39.7x -25.9x
P/FCF 8.2x –
P/Operating cash flow 6.1x –
P/S 1.9x –
P/B 1.0x 0.4x
P/Tangible book 1.1x 0.4x
EV/EBITDA – –
EV/EBIT – –
EV/Revenue 1.9x –
EV/FCF 8.4x –
EV/Operating cash flow 6.3x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.66 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricALBLAC
Revenue growth (1Y) 18.3% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -15.1% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 263.2% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -28.7% –
Operating income growth (1Y) – –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – –
Net income growth (1Y) 127.9% -33.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -60.3% –
EPS growth (1Y) 121.9% 63.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -60.5% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 136.6% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -12.1% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 816.8% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.5% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricALBLAC
Gross margin 23.8% –
EBITDA margin – –
Operating margin – –
Pretax margin – –
Net margin 4.7% –
FCF margin 22.7% –
Operating cash flow margin 30.5% –
Return on equity 2.7% –
Return on assets 1.8% –
Return on invested capital – –
Return on capital employed – –
Asset turnover 0.4x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 7.1x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricALBLAC
Debt / assets 11.8% 27.9%
Debt / equity 0.2x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA – –
Debt / FCF 1.4x –
Liabilities / assets 33.8% 44.9%
Equity / assets 66.2% 55.1%
Interest coverage – –
Current ratio 2.1x 5.5x
Quick ratio 1.2x 3.5x
Cash ratio 0.9x 3.5x
Altman Z-score – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricALBLAC
Dividend yield 1.7% –
Net buyback yield -0.2% –
Shareholder yield 1.5% –
Payout ratio (earnings) 75.3% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 14.2% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 0.4% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 0.9% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusALBLAC
Forward P/E 8.5xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $10.97FY2026 $-0.07FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -2.3% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.87BFY2026 $0.00FY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.2%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +9.5% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersALBLAC
Held by institutions 98.1% 30.8%
Institutions holding 947 274
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.8% -0.6%
Institutions buying 449 149
Institutions selling 358 57
Buyers to sellers 1.25 2.61

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ALBLAC
ALB 1.00 0.53
LAC 0.53 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ALB and LAC?

Albemarle (ALB) is the largest by market capitalisation: Albemarle (ALB) $11.07B, Lithium Americas (LAC) $747.30M.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Albemarle (ALB) returned the most: Albemarle (ALB) -3.8%, Lithium Americas (LAC) -67.9%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Albemarle (ALB) 0.02%, Lithium Americas (LAC) 0.00%. Lithium Americas (LAC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Albemarle (ALB) has been the steadiest (Albemarle (ALB) 55.2%, Lithium Americas (LAC) 67.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do ALB and LAC move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.53, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, ALB and LAC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Albemarle (ALB) leads on 3. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.