New York, Feb 13, 2026, 13:48 EST — Regular trading session
Albemarle shares were up roughly 4.4% at $165.93 by midday Friday, bouncing off an earlier slide that saw the stock touch $156.84. Shares of Chile’s SQM added close to 1%, while the Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF posted a gain of about 1.3%. Investors sifted through new signals around lithium pricing and supply discipline.
Why does it matter? Lithium stocks are now ground zero for bets on near-term pricing. Prices slid for months. Now, traders are weighing whether supply cuts are finally taking hold—or if the bounce fizzles out after restocking slows.
Chile’s state copper agency Cochilco is sticking to a bullish view on short-term lithium prices, citing low cathode plant inventories and a pickup in restocking from buyers. The commission also highlighted sharp gains in battery energy storage systems (BESS) — those large-scale grid batteries — estimating they could drive an extra 190,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) demand compared to the previous year. 1
Albemarle announced late Wednesday it’s halting operations on Train 1, a processing line at its Kemerton lithium hydroxide facility in Western Australia, moving the plant into care and maintenance right away. “Recent lithium price improvements alone are not enough to offset the challenges facing Western hard-rock lithium conversion operations,” chief executive Kent Masters said. The decision, he added, should help strengthen Albemarle’s financial flexibility. 2
The company posted a net loss for the quarter: $455.9 million, or $3.87 per share. On an adjusted basis, the loss came in at 53 cents a share, wider than the 41-cent loss analysts had expected, according to Reuters. Lithium product sales climbed 23%. That’s despite lithium prices plunging more than 90% over the last two years, a slide fueled mostly by growing supply out of China. 3
Oppenheimer’s Colin W. Rusch bumped his price target on Albemarle to $216 from $207 but stuck with his Outperform rating, StreetInsider reported. 4
The London Metal Exchange’s lithium hydroxide CIF (Fastmarkets) Month 2 contract settled at $16,590 per metric ton, up 0.3%. This day-delayed benchmark reflects Fastmarkets assessments for cost-insurance-freight delivered material. 5
Still, the short-term outlook depends on the speed of buyer comeback and continued miner restraint. Should Chinese supply pick up more quickly than demand, or if battery producers opt to cut back on inventory again, those same stocks that just rallied could lose ground just as quickly.
All eyes shift to Asia now, where traders are set to track price and volume action as China heads into its Spring Festival break, spanning Feb. 15 to Feb. 23 and seeing work schedules shuffled for the holiday. The key moment lands after the lull—when buyers step back in, forcing the market to settle at actual clearing prices, forecasts aside. 6
