SQM vs ALB Stock Comparison

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile and Albemarle Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ALB Albemarle Corp
$93.66 -17.4% 1M -3.8% 1Y
Market cap
$11.04B
P/E
39.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.91B
Div. yield
0.02%
Lithium Basic Materials

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile 9). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSQMALBLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $16.27B $11.04B SQM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 11.7x 39.6x SQM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 8.1x 8.5x SQM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +59.0% +18.3% SQM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 20.6% 4.7% SQM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 22.8% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.2x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +28.3% -3.8% SQM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +1.7%/yr -16.6%/yr SQM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 47.1% 55.2% SQM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 70/100 63/100 SQM

Percentile Scorecard

SQMALB

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

AxisSQMALB
Valuation 81 #32 of 162 93 #13 of 162
Growth 63 #55 of 147 54 #68 of 147
Profitability 82 #23 of 122 69 #38 of 122
Financial Health 32 #113 of 166 42 #97 of 166
Shareholder Returns 91 #11 of 107 56 #48 of 107
Overall 70 63
  • SQM ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining
  • ALB 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

PeriodSQMALBSPY
1 month -17.4%-17.4% -1.0%
3 months -16.9%-18.4% +2.9%
6 months -35.7%-50.3% +6.4%
Year to date -17.0%-33.8% +11.4%
1 year +28.3%-3.8% +13.1%
3 years +10.4%-32.7% +79.4%
3 years, per year +3.4%-12.4% +21.5%
5 years +9.0%-59.5% +67.7%
5 years, per year +1.7%-16.6% +10.9%
10 years +94.6%+13.9% +255.2%
10 years, per year +6.9%+1.3% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureSQMALBSPY
Volatility, 1Y 47.1%55.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 44.1%54.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.951.32 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.60-0.07 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -73.5%-84.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -40.1%-56.6% -2.5%
52-week high $95.31$215.62 $779.14
52-week low $44.36$88.45 $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.

MultipleSQMALB
P/E now vs peer median 11.8xmedian 12.7x 39.7xmedian 12.7x
P/S now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 3.1x 1.9xmedian 3.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 4.8xmedian 6.9x —median 6.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 15.1x 8.2xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 2.1x 1.0xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median -0.75median 0.27 -0.66median 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 monthsSQMALB
Revenue $6.73B $5.91B
Gross profit $2.83B $1.41B
Operating income $3.11B –
Net income $1.39B $253.32M
Free cash flow – $1.34B
EPS (diluted) $4.86 $2.04
Cash & equivalents $3.38B $1.63B
Total debt $19.72B $1.88B
Shares (diluted) 285.64M 136.21M
Enterprise value $2.93B $4.77B

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
MetricSQMALB
P/E 11.8x 39.7x
P/FCF – 8.2x
P/Operating cash flow – 6.1x
P/S 2.4x 1.9x
P/B 1.9x 1.0x
P/Tangible book 1.9x 1.1x
EV/EBITDA 4.8x –
EV/EBIT 5.5x –
EV/Revenue 2.6x 1.9x
EV/FCF – 8.4x
EV/Operating cash flow – 6.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.75 -0.66

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSQMALB
Revenue growth (1Y) 59.0% 18.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -4.8% -15.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 150.2% 263.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -9.3% -28.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 134.4% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -17.5% –
Net income growth (1Y) 190.5% 127.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -7.2% -60.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 190.5% 121.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -15.7% -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
MetricSQMALB
Gross margin 42.1% 23.8%
EBITDA margin 52.7% –
Operating margin 46.2% –
Pretax margin 36.6% –
Net margin 20.6% 4.7%
FCF margin – 22.7%
Operating cash flow margin – 30.5%
Return on equity 16.4% 2.7%
Return on assets 8.6% 1.8%
Return on invested capital 22.8% –
Return on capital employed 23.4% –
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 7.1x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSQMALB
Debt / assets 31.3% 11.8%
Debt / equity 0.6x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.2x –
Debt / FCF – 1.4x
Liabilities / assets 47.9% 33.8%
Equity / assets 52.1% 66.2%
Interest coverage 15.3x –
Current ratio 2.6x 2.1x
Quick ratio 1.8x 1.2x
Cash ratio 1.5x 0.9x
Altman Z-score – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSQMALB
Dividend yield 4.2% 1.7%
Net buyback yield – -0.2%
Shareholder yield 4.2% 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.

ConsensusSQMALB
Forward P/E 8.1xFY2026 8.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.03FY2026 $10.97FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +241.3%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after -2.4% -2.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.31BFY2026 $5.87BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +81.4%FY2026 +14.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.0% +9.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSQMALB
Held by institutions 13.4% 98.1%
Institutions holding 316 947
Change in shares held, QoQ -3.0% +6.8%
Institutions buying 166 449
Institutions selling 100 358
Buyers to sellers 1.66 1.25

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.

SQMALB
SQM 1.00 0.79
ALB 0.79 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SQM and ALB?

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) $16.27B, Albemarle (ALB) $11.04B.

Which stock is cheaper, SQM and ALB?

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 11.7x, Albemarle (ALB) 39.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) is cheapest (Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 8.1x, Albemarle (ALB) 8.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) +59.0%, Albemarle (ALB) +18.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) has the highest net margin (Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 20.6%, Albemarle (ALB) 4.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) returned the most: Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) +28.3%, Albemarle (ALB) -3.8%. Over five years, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) compounded fastest (Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) +1.7%/yr, Albemarle (ALB) -16.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 0.00%, Albemarle (ALB) 0.02%. Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) has been the steadiest (Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 47.1%, Albemarle (ALB) 55.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do SQM and ALB move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.79, a strong positive relationship. Holding both adds little diversification.

Which is the better stock, SQM and ALB?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) leads on 9. 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.