Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A.
- Open
- 65.48
- Day high
- 70.03
- Day low
- 65.45
- Prev close
- 66.33
- Volume
- 1.7M
- Mkt cap
- $19.9B
- P/E (TTM)
- 24.4
- EPS (TTM)
- $2.86
- P/B
- 3.4
- P/S
- 3.8
- Yield
- 1.47%
- Per share
- $1.03
Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) is a Basic Materials company listed on NYSE. The stock is up 80% over the past year. Drillr has 4 published research articles covering SQM.
Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) financials & analyst ratings
Fundamentals (TTM)
Analyst consensus · 4 analysts
Source: exchange market data + company filings. Figures are trailing-twelve-month or as most recently reported. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
SQM earnings date, history & EPS estimates
| Report date | EPS est | EPS actual | Surprise | Revenue | Rev. surprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 2026 | $1.78 | $1.28 | -28.1% | $1.8B | +3.9% |
| Nov 19, 2025 | $0.69 | $0.63 | -9.4% | $1.2B | -4.4% |
| Aug 20, 2025 | $0.52 | $0.31 | -40.4% | $1.0B | -15.7% |
| May 28, 2025 | $0.63 | $0.48 | -23.8% | $1.0B | -7.0% |
| Mar 4, 2025 | $0.52 | $0.42 | -19.2% | $1.1B | +6.1% |
| Nov 20, 2024 | $0.66 | $0.46 | -30.3% | $1.1B | +0.8% |
| Aug 21, 2024 | $0.99 | $0.75 | -24.2% | $1.3B | +2.8% |
| May 23, 2024 | $-1.72 | $0.80 | +146.5% | $1.1B | -4.0% |
| Feb 28, 2024 | $1.16 | $0.71 | -38.8% | $1.3B | -2.2% |
| Nov 15, 2023 | $2.11 | $1.68 | -20.4% | $1.8B | -6.9% |
| Aug 16, 2023 | $2.53 | $2.03 | -19.8% | $2.1B | -6.1% |
| May 18, 2023 | $3.05 | $2.63 | -13.8% | $2.3B | -6.6% |
SQM research & analysis
Critical Minerals War: BHP, FCX Win as China's $190B Push Squeezes ALB and SQM
China's initiatives to dominate the $190B critical minerals market pressure lithium specialists like ALB and SQM while favoring diversified copper leaders BHP, RIO, and FCX. MP offers speculative upside via U.S. rare earth independence. Ranked picks highlight copper's resilience amid supply wars.
BHPRIOLACCritical Minerals: BHP, RIO, FCX Win as China's $190B Push Crushes ALB and SQM
China's bid to dominate the $190B critical minerals market pressures lithium producers like ALB and SQM but favors diversified copper giants BHP, RIO, and FCX, plus U.S. rare earth play MP. Backed by fresh financials and earnings guidance, the thesis ranks clear winners amid supply risks.
BHPRIOFCXChile Policy Shift: FCX and ALB Win Big as SQM Lags in Critical Minerals Race
Chile's new government's US-China balancing act eases policy risks for critical minerals miners, with diversified copper leader FCX and lithium producer ALB emerging as top winners, while Chile-centric SQM lags. Financial metrics highlight FCX's superior margins and valuation, positioning it for gains amid stable supply chains. Investors should track Chilean tax bills and lithium pricing for confirmation.
ALBLTHMFCXSQM, ALB, MP: Japan-France Minerals Pact Creates Clear Winners in Lithium Race
Japan and France's critical minerals pact targets lithium, cobalt, and rare earths, favoring US-listed producers like SQM, ALB, and MP amid supply chain diversification. SQM leads with strong margins and guidance, while developers like LAC offer upside leverage. Ranked picks highlight scale and policy alignment as winners.
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Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. company profile
Overview
Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) is a Chilean specialty chemicals company founded in 1968 and headquartered in Santiago, Chile. The company has evolved from a traditional fertilizer producer into one of the world's largest lithium producers, capitalizing on Chile's vast mineral resources in the Atacama Desert. SQM went public in 1993 and has since become a critical supplier to the global electric vehicle and energy storage industries through its lithium operations, while maintaining significant positions in iodine production and specialty fertilizers.
Business
SQM operates in the specialty chemicals industry with three primary business segments that leverage Chile's unique geological advantages. The company extracts minerals from brine pools in the Atacama Desert and processes them into high-value chemical products. Lithium and Derivatives (approximately 60-70% of revenues): SQM produces lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, which are essential materials for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and consumer electronics. Lithium carbonate serves as a precursor material for battery cathodes, while lithium hydroxide is preferred for high-performance batteries due to its superior energy density characteristics. The company operates extraction facilities at the Salar de Atacama, one of the world's highest-grade lithium brine deposits, and has expanded internationally with projects in Australia including the Mt. Holland operation. Iodine and Derivatives (approximately 15-20% of revenues): The company is one of the world's largest iodine producers, extracting this element from the same brine sources as lithium. Iodine has diverse applications including medical contrast agents for X-ray imaging, antiseptics and disinfectants, LCD screen polarizing films, pharmaceutical synthesis, and industrial catalysts. SQM's iodine business benefits from limited global supply sources and growing demand in medical and technology applications. Specialty Plant Nutrition and Industrial Chemicals (approximately 15-25% of revenues): This segment produces potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, and other specialty fertilizers primarily for high-value crops. These water-soluble fertilizers provide precise nutrition for greenhouse cultivation, fruit production, and specialty agriculture. The segment also includes industrial chemicals like solar salts used in concentrated solar power plants and potassium chloride for various industrial applications.
Revenue model
SQM generates revenue primarily through direct product sales to industrial customers, operating under long-term contracts and spot market transactions. The company's business model centers on extracting and processing mineral-rich brines from the Atacama Desert, where it holds exclusive extraction rights through agreements with the Chilean government. The lithium business operates on both contract and spot pricing mechanisms. Approximately 80% of lithium sales follow market-linked pricing indices, while the remainder involves fixed-price contracts. Customers include battery manufacturers, cathode material producers, and chemical companies serving the electric vehicle supply chain. The iodine business serves pharmaceutical companies, electronics manufacturers, and chemical distributors through a combination of long-term supply agreements and spot sales. Several factors significantly impact SQM's margins. Positive margin drivers include the growing global transition to electric vehicles, which increases lithium demand faster than supply expansion, and the company's position as a low-cost producer due to its high-grade brine deposits. The Atacama Desert's unique geology allows SQM to produce lithium at costs significantly below hard-rock mining operations. Negative margin pressures come from commodity price volatility, particularly during periods of lithium oversupply, regulatory changes in Chile including mining taxes and environmental restrictions, and competition from new lithium projects globally. Weather patterns affecting evaporation rates in the desert ponds can also impact production volumes and costs. Currency fluctuations between the Chilean peso and US dollar create additional margin variability since costs are largely peso-denominated while revenues are primarily in US dollars.
Competitive moat
SQM possesses a strong but not impregnable moat built primarily on resource advantages and operational scale. The company's primary competitive advantage stems from its exclusive access to the Salar de Atacama, one of the world's highest-grade and lowest-cost lithium brine deposits. This geological advantage provides significant cost leadership, with production costs well below most hard-rock lithium mining operations. The company's integrated operations, combining lithium and iodine extraction from the same brine sources, create operational efficiencies and revenue diversification that competitors cannot easily replicate. The moat is reinforced by SQM's established customer relationships, technical expertise in brine processing, and scale advantages in procurement and distribution. The company's 50+ year operating history has created deep institutional knowledge about desert brine chemistry and processing optimization. However, this moat faces several potential threats. New lithium supply from Australia, Argentina, and other jurisdictions could erode SQM's cost advantages over time. Direct lithium extraction technologies being developed by various companies could potentially access lithium resources more efficiently than traditional evaporation methods. Additionally, SQM's operations are concentrated in Chile, creating regulatory and political risks including potential changes to mining policies, tax structures, or environmental regulations. The company's partnership requirements with Codelco (Chile's state copper company) and CORFO (Chile's development agency) add layers of complexity and potential future constraints on operations.
Risks & safety
SQM maintains a moderate margin of safety with solid financial fundamentals but faces cyclical commodity exposure and regulatory uncertainties. • Liquidity and Debt: Strong current ratio of 2.5x, cash and short-term investments of $1.4 billion, debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93x indicating manageable leverage levels • Profitability Cycles: Highly cyclical earnings due to commodity price volatility - net income swung from $3.9 billion (2022) to breakeven (2024) as lithium prices declined • Valuation Metrics: Trading at 21.6x P/E ratio and 2.0x price-to-book, suggesting modest valuation relative to recent peak earnings but elevated compared to trough periods • Cash Generation: Operating cash flow of $1.3 billion (2024) with free cash flow of $303 million, though this varies significantly with commodity cycles • Capital Intensity: High ongoing capex requirements ($1.1 billion planned for 2025) for capacity expansion, creating cash flow pressure during down cycles • Regulatory Risk: Substantial exposure to Chilean government policy changes, including mining taxes and environmental regulations that could materially impact operations
Recent development
Over the past several years, SQM has executed a comprehensive transformation from a regional fertilizer company into a global lithium powerhouse. The company has aggressively expanded its lithium production capacity in Chile from 180,000 metric tons in 2022 to over 210,000 metric tons currently, with plans to reach 240,000 metric tons. This expansion has been accompanied by significant investments in lithium hydroxide production capabilities, growing from 40,000 to targeting 100,000 metric tons by 2025 to serve the high-performance battery market. International expansion represents a major strategic pivot, with SQM establishing operations beyond Chile for the first time. The company has developed the Mt. Holland project in Australia, which began producing spodumene concentrate in 2024 and is expected to start refinery operations in mid-2025. SQM also acquired Azure Minerals to gain access to the Andover lithium project in Australia, targeting 100,000 tons of international lithium production by 2030. Strategic partnerships have become increasingly important, including the landmark agreement with Codelco to jointly operate the Salar de Atacama until 2060, providing long-term operational security. The company has also formed SQM International Lithium as a separate entity to pursue global opportunities and has explored partnerships with battery manufacturers like LG for potential downstream integration. Operational improvements have focused on sustainability and efficiency, with SQM receiving IRMA (Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance) recognition and investing in seawater pipeline infrastructure to reduce freshwater usage. The company has also expanded its iodine production capabilities through the Pampa Blanca project and enhanced its specialty fertilizer operations to serve growing demand in high-value agriculture markets.
SQM company profile · for informational purposes only — not investment advice.
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