Albemarle cuts 2019 guidance on lithium price weakness

• Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) -7.1% after-hours in reaction to reducing guidance for full-year earnings and revenues due to continuing pressure from low lithium prices.
• ALB now sees FY 2019 EPS of $6.00-$6.20, below prior guidance of $6.25-$6.65 and $6.28 analyst consensus, on revenues of $3.6B-$3.7B, slightly off its previous outlook of $3.65B-$3.85B but in line with $3.64 consensus.
• While the company expects slight upside in its bromine and catalysts units in Q4, it will not offset weakness in lithium.
• ALB also reports preliminary Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.53, below $1.62 consensus, with the lithium business expected to deliver revenue of $330M, up 22% Y/Y but lower than forecast primarily due to Typhoon Tapah, which caused shipments from ports in Shanghai to be delayed into October.
• The company also says it expects FY 2020 EBITDA performance to be lower than 2019 results.