Albemarle (Albemarle) Free Cash Flow

: $-824 Mil (TTM As of Dec. 2023)

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Albemarle's total free cash flow for the months ended in Dec. 2023 was $-782 Mil. Its total free cash flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was $-824 Mil.

Albemarle's Free Cash Flow per Share for the months ended in Dec. 2023 was $-6.65. Its free cash flow per share for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 was $-7.00.

During the past 12 months, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate of Albemarle was -227.50% per year. During the past 3 years, the average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was -143.80% per year. Please click Growth Rate Calculation Example (GuruFocus) to see how GuruFocus calculates Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT)'s revenue growth rate. You can apply the same method to get the Free Cash Flow Growth Rate using Free Cash Flow per Share data.

During the past 13 years, Albemarle's highest 3-Year average Free Cash Flow per Share Growth Rate was 147.60% per year. The lowest was -143.80% per year. And the median was 7.80% per year.

Albemarle Free Cash Flow Historical Data

The historical data trend for Albemarle's Free Cash Flow can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* Premium members only.

Albemarle Annual Data

Trend

Dec14

Dec15

Dec16

Dec17

Dec18

Dec19

Dec20

Dec21

Dec22

Dec23

Free Cash Flow

-132.42

-51.56

-609.41

646.20

-823.96

Albemarle Quarterly Data
	Mar19	Jun19	Sep19	Dec19	Mar20	Jun20	Sep20	Dec20	Mar21	Jun21	Sep21	Dec21	Mar22	Jun22	Sep22	Dec22	Mar23	Jun23	Sep23	Dec23
Free Cash Flow																506.54	305.37	-429.98	82.95	-782.31

Albemarle Free Cash Flow Calculation

Free Cash Flow is considered one of the most important parameters to measure a company's earnings power by value investors because it is not subject to estimates of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization (DDA). However, when we look at the Free Cash Flow, we should look from a long term perspective, because any year's Free Cash Flow can be drastically affected by the spending on Property, Plant, & Equipment (PPE) of the business in that year. Over the long term, Free Cash Flow should give pretty good picture on the real earnings power of the company.

Albemarle's Free Cash Flow for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2023 is calculated as

Free Cash Flow (A: Dec. 2023 )	=	Cash Flow from Operations	+	Capital Expenditure
	=	1325.321	+	-2149.281
	=	-824

Albemarle's Free Cash Flow for the quarter that ended in Dec. 2023 is calculated as

Free Cash Flow (Q: Dec. 2023 )	=	Cash Flow from Operations	+	Capital Expenditure
	=	-98.219	+	-684.088
	=	-782

Free Cash Flow for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Dec. 2023 adds up the quarterly data reported by the company within the most recent 12 months, which was $-824 Mil.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Free Cash Flow Explanation

Free Cash Flow is very close to Warren Buffett's definition of Owner's Earnings, except that in Warren Buffett's Owner's Earnings, the spending for Property, Plant, and Equipment is only for maintenance (replacement), while in the Free Cash Flow calculation, the cost of new Property, Plant, and Equipment due to business expansion is also deducted. There, Free Cash Flow is more conservative than Owner's Earnings.

In Don Yacktman's calculation of forward rate of return, he uses Free Cash Flow for the calculation. Yacktman explained the forward rate of return concept in detail in his interview with GuruFocus. Yacktman defines forward rate of return as the normalized free cash flow yield plus real growth plus inflation.

This is what Yacktman said in his March 2012 interview - when the S&P 500 was at 1400:

If the business is stable, this calculation is fairly straightforward. For instance, on the S&P 500 we would normalize earnings. We would then calculate what percentage of those earnings are not reinvested in the underlying businesses and are therefore free. Historically, for the S&P 500, this has been just under 50% of earnings. Currently, we expect the S&P to earn about 70 on a normalized basis, a number which is far below reported earnings due to our adjusting for record high profit margins. $70 X ½ / 1400 gives you a normalized free cash flow yield of approximately 2.5%.

The historical real growth rate of the S&P 500 (companies) is about 1.5%. Assuming an inflation rate of 2.5%, the forward rate of return on an investment in the S&P 500 is about 6.5% today (2.5% free cash flow yield plus 1.5% real growth plus 2.5% inflation).

For the growth part of the Forward Rate of Return calculation, GuruFocus uses the 5-year average growth rate of EBITDA per share as the growth rate, and the growth rate is always capped at 20%. For the Free Cash Flow we use per share data averaged over seven years. The reason we use seven years is because research shows that seven years is the length of the typical business cycle.

Therefore, as of Dec23, Albemarle's Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % is

Forward Rate of Return (Yacktman) % (Dec23)	=	Normalized Free Cash Flow	/	Price	+	5-Year EBITDA Growth Rate
	=	-1.71619048	/	144.48	+	0.1704
	=	15.85 %

Be Aware

Free Cash Flow within a report period can be affected by management's decisions of capital spending. Therefore, it is important to look at long term when it comes to Free Cash Flow.

Albemarle Free Cash Flow Related Terms

Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of Albemarle's Free Cash Flow provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.

Albemarle (Albemarle) Business Description

Industry

GURUFOCUS.COM » STOCK LIST » Basic Materials » Chemicals » Albemarle Corp (NYSE:ALB) » Definitions » Free Cash Flow

Comparable Companies

Traded in Other Exchanges

ALB:Mexico AMC:Germany AMC:Germany AMC:Germany AMC:Germany A1LB34:Brazil ALBE:Austria

Address

4250 Congress Street, Suite 900, Charlotte, NC, USA, 28209

Website

https://www.albemarle.com

Albemarle is one of the world's largest lithium producers. In the lithium industry, the majority of demand comes from batteries, where lithium is used as the energy storage material, particularly in electric vehicles. Albemarle is a fully integrated lithium producer. Its upstream resources include salt brine deposits in Chile and the U.S. and two hard rock mines in Australia, both of which are joint ventures. The company operates lithium refining plants in Chile, the U.S., Australia, and China. Albemarle is a global leader in the production of bromine, used in flame retardants. It is also a major producer of oil refining catalysts.

Executives

Kristin M Coleman	officer: EVP, General Counsel	140 HAZEL AVE., GLENCOE IL 60022
Neal Ravi Sheorey	officer: Chief Financial Officer	4250 CONGRESS STREET, SUITE 900, CHARLOTTE NC 28209
Michael James Simmons	officer: President - Ketjen	301 COMMERCE STREET, SUITE 3200, FORT WORTH TX 76102
Eric Norris	officer: President, Lithium	1519 AUDUBON ROAD, CHARLOTTE NC 28211
J Kent Masters	director	ALBEMARLE CORP., 451 FLORIDA ST, BATON ROUGE LA 70801
Sean B. O'hollaren	officer: Chief External Affairs Officer	4250 CONGRESS STREET, SUITE 900, CHARLOTTE NC 28209
Jacobus G. Fourie	officer: Chief Capital Projects Officer	4250 CONGRESS STREET, SUITE 900, CHARLOTTE NC 28209
Scott Tozier	officer: EVP & CFO	ALBEMARLE CORP, 4250 CONGRESS ST STE 900, CHARLOTTE NC 28209
Karen G Narwold	officer: EVP, Chief Admin Officer	ALBEMARLE CORPORATION, 4250 CONGRESS ST, SUITE 900, CHARLOTTE NC 28209
Raphael Goszcz Crawford	officer: President, Catalysts	4311 GREENBRIAR HILLS PLANTATION RD, CHARLOTTE NC 28277
Ralf Hans Cramer	director	MIERENDORSFSTRASSE 26, BENSHEIM 2M 64625
Netha N. Johnson	officer: President, Bromine Specialties	3489 CRESTMOOR DRIVE, WOODBURY MN 55125
Barichivich John Clarence Iii	officer: VP, Controller & CAO	4250 CONGRESS ST., SUITE 900, CHARLOTTE NC 28209
Kissam Luther C Iv	director, officer: Chairman, President & CEO	3801 BERESFORD ROAD, CHARLOTTE NC 28211
Melissa H. Anderson	officer: SVP, Chief HR Officer	ALBEMARLE CORPORATION, 4250 CONGRESS ST. SUITE 900, CHARLOTTE NC 28209