Analyst Note
| Seth Goldstein, CFA |Our key takeaway from Albemarle's fourth-quarter earnings was management's plan to further expand its lithium capacity by around 50,000 metric tons over what we had already forecast. We have also made minor adjustments to our near-term bromine outlook for Albemarle as the company guided to higher growth than we previously forecast. Additionally, we have reduced our 2021 outlook for the catalyst business as we expect a slower recovery from the COVID-19-related slowdown than we had previously forecast. Having updated our model to reflect these changes, we raise our Albemarle fair value estimate to $140 per share from $135. Our narrow-moat rating is unchanged.