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 US and two hard rock mines in Australia, both of which are joint ventures. The company operates lithium refining plants in Chile, the US, Australia, and China. Albemarle is a global leader in the production of bromine, used in flame retardants.

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 US and two hard rock mines in Australia, both of which are joint ventures. The company operates lithium refining plants in Chile, the US, Australia, and China. Albemarle is a global leader in the production of bromine, used in flame retardants.

Each month we take a close look at an aspect of sector investing. This month, we are examining sector growth and valuation, which is often referred to as GARP investing, with GARP standing for Growth At a Reasonable Price. Investors hunting for GARP stocks that reasonably balance long-term growth prospects and current value characteristics might want to look at companies in the Financial, Materials, Energy, and Communication Services sectors. These are among the industry groups that are currently selling for PEGY (price/earnings)/(growth+yield) ratios at or below the S&P 500's ratio of 1.9. To generate the PEGY ratios, we use the P/E ratio for each sector based on forward earnings for the numerator. For the denominator, we average the growth rates for the past five years along with two years of forward estimates, this in order to achieve a smoother, less-volatile, earnings growth-rate trend. We then we add the current yield to approximate total return. As an example, the current S&P 500 P/E ratio is 21, the current yield is 1.2%, and the historical growth rate is 10%. The formula is 21/(1.2+10.0) = 1.9. Based on our analysis of growth rates and valuations, along with other factors, we have established our current over-weight sectors as Information Technology, Financial, Utilities, Healthcare and Industrial. Our only under-weight sector is Consumer Discretionary. Our market-weight sectors are Energy, Consumer Staples, Materials, Real Estate and Communication Services.

AI is helping companies in the Industrial sector, and those same companies are helping AI. We hear a lot of talk about the technology supporting AI (such as data centers and high-speed chips). For its part, the Industrial sector is full of names supporting AI growth by supplying the energy, infrastructure, transport, and construction needed to build out new AI-focused facilities. Meanwhile, Industrial companies are harnessing AI technology to help with processes, inventory control, and supply-chain management, and many other functions. Indeed, Industrial companies are using smart robots to manage and work production lines at manufacturing facilities, while AI also is helping to make front and back offices operate more efficiently and cost effectively. We are running a five-part webinar series on AI, looking at how different industries are incorporating AI practices. We just hosted our fourth edition, spotlighting the Industrial sector. For our list this week, we are presenting the cheat sheet from the webinar – with the BUY-rated Industrial stocks we highlighted during the webinar.