2023-04-21 16:14:00 ET
Lithium investors are having a bad day Friday, as reports out of Chile that President Gabriel Boric intends to nationalize the Chilean lithium industry devastate shares of lithium companies with interests in the country.
This is bad news for investors in lithium stock Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) , shares of which are down 10.4% as of 3 p.m. ET on the news. There's good news for Albemarle investors, too, however.
Specifically, the good news is that while Albemarle may be hurt by Chile's action, it won't be hurt as badly as Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE: SQM) , another lithium miner that's seeing its shares devastated today. Both companies, you see, are now staring down the risk that Chile's government will confiscate their assets in the country, pay less than these assets are worth in compensation (or not pay compensation at all), and thus render their businesses significantly less valuable than they were just 24 hours ago.
For further details see:
Why Albemarle Stock Crashed 10% Friday