$ALB

Global EV sales grew 20% in 2025, reaching 20M units, with 23M expected in 2026, per IEA. Tesla unveiled the Roadster, targeting 2028 production, and reported Q3 deliveries down 2% YoY. Rivian set a Q3 sales record, while Lucid cut output. GM's U.S. EV sales fell 62% YoY. Albemarle saw lithium prices drop but was upgraded by Mizuho.

IonQ fell 8% after a $2B equity offering. Bending Spoons rose 40% on Berkshire Hathaway's $330M investment. CoreWeave dropped 15% amid bond sell-off. Bank of America fell 7% due to a $1.2B penalty. BlackRock gained 1% on earnings beat. ASML slipped less than 1% on slight sales miss. GameStop rose 2% after CEO's share purchase. Albemarle added 1% on Mizuho upgrade. Dell and HPE fell over 5% after Barclays downgrade. Morgan Stanley dropped 3% on weak investment banking revenue.

Mizuho upgraded Albemarle (ALB) to Outperform with a $130 price target. Barclays downgraded Dell (DELL) to Equalweight with a $574 target. Other upgrades and downgrades were issued by various firms, including Brinker (EAT), GXO (GXO), and more.

US futures rise ahead of CPI data, with small caps leading. Traders await inflation figures, bank earnings, and Anthropic's pre-IPO investor day. Oil prices increase due to Middle East tensions. Alphabet leads 'Magnificent 7' higher, while Bank of America falls on regulatory fines and trading misses. BlackRock jumps after strong quarterly inflows. CPI consensus expects 0.6% M/M and 3.6% Y/Y headline inflation.

Wall Street analysts made several calls: Mizuho upgraded Albemarle (ALB) citing battery storage demand, Goldman upgraded Trane (TT) with a $565 target, Morgan Stanley reiterated SpaceX (SPCX) overweight, Barclays downgraded Dell (DELL), Jefferies upgraded Brinker (EAT), Barclays initiated Alcoa (AA) and Kaiser (KALU) as overweight, JPMorgan initiated Kirby (KEX) and Arcus (RCUS) as overweight, and reiterated Apple (AAPL) overweight.

Wall Street analysts issued research calls on several companies. Upgrades include Albemarle (ALB) to Outperform, Brinker International (EAT) to Buy, Lockheed Martin (LMT) to Buy, and Trane Technologies (TT) to Buy. Downgrades include Albertsons (ACI) to Underperform, Dell (DELL) to Equal Weight, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to Equal Weight, Lennox (LII) to Neutral, and NetApp (NTAP) to Equal Weight. Initiations include Alcoa (AA) with Overweight, Garmin (GRMN) with Buy, and others.

Bank of America (BAC) fell 4% after reporting a 17% profit decline due to a $1.2B penalty. BlackRock (BLK) rose 3% on earnings and revenue beats. ASML (ASML) dropped 1% on slight sales miss. GameStop (GME) gained 2% after CEO bought 844K shares. Albemarle (ALB) jumped 3% on an upgrade. Dell (DELL) and HPE (HPE) fell over 2.5% and 4% respectively after downgrades. Morgan Stanley (MS) rose 0.4% on earnings beat.

Analysts updated ratings and price targets for several companies. Albemarle (ALB) was upgraded to buy with a $130 target by Mizuho. Dell (DELL) and Domino's (DPZ) were downgraded by Barclays and Gordon Haskett, respectively. Other notable changes include upgrades for Galaxy Digital (GLXY) and Trane (TT), and downgrades for Carrier (CARR), Lennox (LII), and more. Price targets were adjusted accordingly.

Mizuho upgraded Albemarle (ALB) to Outperform with a $130 price target, citing strong battery storage demand. ALB trades at $97.65, down 48% in six months. Mizuho raised 2027-2028 EBITDA estimates. ALB reported Q2 earnings of $3.75 per share, beating estimates. RBC lowered EBITDA forecasts but kept an Outperform rating.

Lithium carbonate futures prices in China dropped 10% to a near 10-month low, impacting stocks like Albemarle (ALB). The decline followed an agreement to limit hybrid car exports to the European Union.