AMG Critical Materials beats Q1 2026 guidance on vanadium strength
AMG Critical Materials N.V. has reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $44 million, a 2% sequential improvement on the fourth quarter of 2025 and ahead of the company's own guidance, which had indicated a sequential decline. The Amsterdam-listed critical materials group attributed the outperformance primarily to its AMG Vanadium division, bolstered by the consolidation of AURA Technologie GmbH from 1 January 2026 and favourable tungsten price movements that AURA brought into the portfolio.
Group revenue rose 15% year-on-year to $446 million, while net income attributable to shareholders more than doubled to $12 million, aided in part by a write-up of lithium inventories at the Bitterfeld refinery. On an adjusted basis, EBITDA fell 24% against the prior-year quarter — a comparison the company framed as a reflection of exceptionally strong antimony profitability in Q1 2025 rather than underlying deterioration.
Divisional performance
AMG Vanadium was the standout performer, with adjusted EBITDA up 60% year-on-year to $21 million on the back of higher ferrovanadium volumes and prices, plus the newly consolidated AURA operations. AMG Lithium posted adjusted EBITDA of $4 million, roughly in line with the prior year, as strong production output at Bitterfeld was offset by shipping vessel constraints that pushed some sales into the second quarter. Lithium hydroxide from Bitterfeld is described as consistently in-specification battery grade, with commercial production expected around mid-2026.
AMG Technologies — the group's engineering and specialty materials arm — saw adjusted EBITDA decline sharply to $19 million from $39 million in Q1 2025, again largely a function of the prior-year antimony windfall. The engineering backlog remains robust at $370 million, and the division signed $77 million in new induction furnace orders during the quarter, sustaining a book-to-bill ratio of 0.87x.
The company confirmed it will open a new chrome metal production facility in New Castle, Pennsylvania on 17 June 2026, with annual capacity of up to 6,500 tonnes. Chrome metal carries US critical material designation, reflecting its role in aerospace and defence alloys and the absence of domestic US production capacity — a theme that runs through much of AMG's current strategic positioning.
Market context and outlook
AMG's business sits at the intersection of energy transition supply chains and resurging geopolitical interest in critical material sovereignty — a sector that has seen increased policy attention in both the European Union and the United States following successive rounds of export controls and trade restrictions on minerals such as antimony, tungsten, and graphite. The company's ability to recycle and refine these materials domestically within its home geographies is becoming a more explicit part of its commercial narrative.
The group reiterated full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance of $210–$240 million, and flagged likely peak tantalum prices and favourable shipment phasing as supports for a stronger second quarter. A $127 million capital raise, completed in April at €34 per share on a four-times oversubscribed basis, will fund expansion into lithium carbonate conversion, high-purity molybdenum, and vanadium — projects the company describes as capital-light with short payback horizons.
The pending sale of Graphit Kropfmühl (AMG Graphite) to Asbury Carbons, subject to German FDI review now in formal Phase II, is expected to close in the second quarter. The outcome of that review will be watched by deal participants across the European critical materials sector as a signal of how German regulators are calibrating foreign direct investment scrutiny in strategic industrial assets.