Shares of climbed more than 9 percent in afternoon trade Tuesday after the company reported a strong earnings and guidance beat for its fourth quarter.
Albemarle reported earnings of 78 cents on revenue of $696.7 million while the Street expected earnings of 72 cents per share on revenue of $646.4 million, according to FactSet consensus estimates.
The specialty chemicals company also reported a 2017 guidance beat, posting an earnings range of $4.00 per share to $4.25 per share on revenues of $2.8 billion to $2.95 billion, compared to analyst's earnings estimates of $4.08 per share on revenue of $2.78 billion, according to FactSet consensus estimates.
The report noted Albemare's growth in lithium sales with its CEO Luke Kissam providing insight about additional lithium reserves being added to the company.
"We finalized the agreement with CORFO [a Chilean governmental organization to promote economic growth in Chile] that more than triples our Lithium quota in Chile, and secures our access to the best lithium reserve in the world through 2043," Kissam said. "Finally, we closed on the acquisition of the lithium assets of Jiangxi Jiangli New Materials Science [in China]."
Albemarle closed above $101 after shares hit $102.56 earlier in the session, and continued trading near all-time intraday high levels back to its spin-off from Ethyl Corporation.