Livent stock rallies 14% after Q1 earnings, higher lithium prices

Livent Corp. shares rallied more than 14% in the extended session Tuesday after the lithium and lithium compounds producer beat Wall Street expectations for its first quarter and raised its guidance for the year, saying that demand for lithium, used in batteries of all sizes and in myriad of other products, continues to be strong and prices have increased. Livent said it earned $53.2 million, or 28 cents a share, in the quarter, swinging from a loss of 1 cent a share in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, Livent earned 21 cents a share. "Further improvement in lithium market conditions and strong customer demand in the first quarter supported higher realized prices than anticipated at the beginning of the year," the company said. Analysts polled by FactSet expected Livent to report EPS of 13 cents a share on sales of $140 million. "Strong lithium demand growth has continued in 2022," Chief Executive Paul Graves said in a statement. "Published lithium prices in all forms have increased rapidly amid very tight market conditions and Livent continues to achieve higher realized prices across its entire product portfolio." Livent increased 2022 guidance on "higher expected realized prices across all lithium products," it said. For the full year, Livent projected revenue to be in a range between $755 million and $835 million, compared with a previous guidance of between $540 million and $600 million, and adjusted EBITDA to be in a range between $290 million and $350 million, compared with an earlier guidance of between $160 million and $200 million. Shares of Livent ended the regular trading day up 2.6%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.