Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call February 15, 2024 9:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Meredith Bandy - Vice President, Investor Relations and Sustainability

Kent Masters - Chief Executive Officer

Neal Sheorey - Chief Financial Officer

Netha Johnson - President, Specialties

Eric Norris - President, Energy Storage

Conference Call Participants

Stephen Richardson - Evercore ISI

Colin Rusch - Oppenheimer

Steve Byrne - Bank of America

Josh Spector - UBS

Jeffrey Zekauskas - JPMorgan

Vincent Andrews - Morgan Stanley

David Begleiter - Deutsche Bank

Joel Jackson - BMO Capital Markets

Mike Sison - Wells Fargo

John Roberts - Mizuho

Kevin McCarthy - Vertical Research Partners

Operator

Hello and welcome to Albemarle Corporation’s Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker’s remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions]

I will now hand it over to Meredith Bandy, Vice President of Investor Relations and Sustainability.

Meredith Bandy

Thank you. And welcome everyone to Albemarle’s fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings conference call. Our earnings were released after the close of market yesterday and you’ll find the press release and earnings presentation posted to our website under the Investor Section at albemarle.com.

Joining me on the call today are Kent Masters, Chief Executive Officer; and Neal Sheorey, Chief Financial Officer. Netha Johnson, President of Specialties; and Eric Norris, President of Energy Storage are also available for Q&A.

As a reminder, some of the statements made during this call, including our outlook considerations, guidance, expected company performance and timing of expansion projects, may constitute forward-looking statements. Please note the cautionary language about forward-looking statements contained in our press release and earnings presentation that also applies to this call.

Please also note that some of our comments today refer to non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations can be found in our earnings materials.

And now, I’ll turn the call over to Kent.

Kent Masters

Thank you, Meredith. Now, starting on slide four, our full year results show continued strong volumetric growth, with 2023 marking the highest net sales and second highest EPS in Albemarle’s history. This highlights the focus and ability of our global team to succeed in a macro environment that remains challenging. We ended the year with net sales of $9.6 billion, up 31% compared to 2022, of which 21% was related to volume growth. Energy Storage delivered 35% volumetric growth in 2023.