EV Sales Are Slowing. Why This Lithium Producer’s Stock Is on Fire.

Albemarle stock doesn’t need a strong EV market to gain. (Cristobal Olivares/Bloomberg)

Key Points

• Albemarle stock rose 2.3% for the day, adding to an 18% gain over the past week and 34% year to date.
• Benchmark lithium prices increased to $12,000 per metric ton, up from a 2025 low of approximately $7,000 per ton.
• Citi upgraded its view on the Chinese lithium sector, citing increased demand for energy storage solutions using lithium-ion batteries.

Electric-vehicle sales are slowing in the U.S. as the Trump administration cuts support for the transportation technology fueled by lithium-ion batteries. Albemarle stock is rising anyway.

Yes, Tesla car sales are set for their second consecutive annual decline. Ford Motor and General Motors are writing down EV assets. Yet shares of Albemarle, which mines the lithium used in the batteries that power everything from smartphones to EVs, are surging ahead, anyway.

Albemarle stock traded as high as $125.85 on Monday before closing at $117.70, up 2.3%, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9% and 1.2%, respectively. That only added to recent gains. Coming into Monday trading, Albemarle stock was up 18% over the past week, and up 34% year to date.

The performance illustrates the paradox of commodities. Sometimes, strong demand means overexpansion by commodity producers, which leads to lower commodity prices—and weaker stock prices. Then, when demand growth slows, commodity production falls, and sometimes underperforming mines are even idled, stabilizing prices and earnings for commodity producers.

That’s what’s happened to Albemarle shares and the lithium industry lately. Earlier in 2025, the largest lithium-ion battery maker in the world, Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Ltd., better known as CATL, idled some of its lithium capacity.

That helped stabilize prices. Benchmark lithium prices are currently around $12,000 per metric ton, up from a 2025 low of closer to $7,000 a ton. Prices peaked in 2022 at more than $80,000 per ton.

(Albemarle shares were just under $125 in early trading, still down more than 60% from 2022 peaks.)

Then, this past week, Citi analyst Jack Shang upgraded his view of the lithium industry, citing demand growth for energy storage solutions that use lithium-ion batteries. He covers Chinese lithium stocks, but whatever pushes up commodity prices is good for American lithium producers, too.

Some demand growth and a stable supply were all it took for investors to feel much better about lithium stocks.

Most of Wall Street hasn’t caught on just yet. The average analyst price target for Albemarle shares is about $100, below where the stock is trading.

Overall, 33% of analysts covering the stock rate shares Buy, according to FactSet. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P 500 is about 55%. That was close to the Buy-rating ratio for Albemarle stock when lithium prices peaked in 2022.

If the rest of Wall Street catches on, Albemarle stock could rise even more.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com