Albemarle

ALB

Market cap $11.6B

Albemarle (ALB) closed the most recent trading day at $98.16, moving +2% from the previous trading session.

Jim Cramer wanted investors to rotate out of "quantum/nuke/crypto" hype into real-economy names. But judging by the year-to-date leaderboard, that rotation might have landed in another bubble — rare earths.

Albemarle is positioned for upside as global lithium supply tightens amid U.S.-China tensions over critical minerals. China's dominance in lithium processing and new export controls highlight the strategic value of ALB's non-China mining assets. The stock trades at just 4x normalized EBITDA, with cost reductions and positive free cash flow expected even at current low lithium prices.

Albemarle (ALB) is a leading global lithium producer, trading near book value and positioned for long-term growth despite recent lithium price volatility. ALB's strong balance sheet, significant cash reserves, and strategic US assets provide a margin of safety, even as the company cuts CAPEX and navigates market headwinds. Lithium market cyclicality, global supply-demand imbalances, and policy shifts in China and the US create both risks and opportunities for ALB's future cash flows.

Shares of U.S. rare earth miners rallied in premarket trade on Tuesday, extending sharp gains from the previous session.

China's new rare earth export curbs may aim to overturn U.S. foreign policy as well as AI chip export controls. MP Materials, USA Rare Earth soar.

China's control over crucial rare earth materials has been a “threat for a long time” to Western supply chains and the U.S. should create a strategic reserve of the metals, University of Pennsylvania professor emeritus of finance Jeremy Siegel told CNBC's “Squawk Box” Monday.

President Donald Trump on Friday threatened China with a "massive" increase in tariffs in retaliation for Beijing imposing strict controls on rare earths.

President Donald Trump said Friday that the U.S. would retaliate against China over export controls.

"Autonomous vehicles have arrived for both rideshare and trucking," Goldman Sachs Research analyst Mark Delaney wrote this summer. "We believe the key focus for investors is now on the pace at which AVs [autonomous vehicles] will grow and how big the market will become, rather than if the technology works.