Sociedad Quimica Y Minera De Chile (SQM), one of the world's key suppliers of battery-grade lithium, just vaulted into elite territory on momentum rankings. This matters if you care about electric vehicles, lithium markets, or what's quietly powering the EV revolution happening in your neighbor's garage.

The Momentum Picture Looks Strong

SQM's momentum score jumped to 90.88, rocketing it into the top 10th percentile of tracked stocks. That's up from 84.34—a 6.54-point leap that suggests investors are feeling increasingly bullish about where this stock is headed.

The company is showing green checkmarks across short-term, medium-term, and long-term price trends according to proprietary analysis. Short-term captures the past couple of months, medium-term covers recent quarters, and long-term looks back over the past year. When all three align like this, it's worth paying attention.

The momentum story gets support from growth metrics sitting at the 54.70th percentile and value at 53.29. Quality lags considerably at 21.07, which highlights some operational challenges—but that's not unusual for companies operating in volatile commodity markets where prices swing based on global supply and demand dynamics.

Why Tesla Investors Should Care

Here's where it gets interesting for EV enthusiasts: SQM plays a crucial role in Tesla Inc. (TSLA)'s battery supply chain, even if the connection isn't always direct.

Back in 2018, Tesla signed a supply deal with Kidman Resources, where SQM holds a 50/50 stake in the Mt. Holland lithium project in Australia. That arrangement secured lithium hydroxide for Tesla's Gigafactory production.

More significantly, SQM inked an eight-year agreement in 2020 to deliver up to 55,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate annually to LG Energy Solution—one of Tesla's major battery suppliers. That deal was later superseded by a new, expanded agreement in July 2023, further cementing SQM's position upstream in Tesla's supply chain.

With Tesla ramping up Cybertruck production and next-generation vehicle output, and global EV demand soaring past 14 million units in 2024 according to International Energy Agency data, SQM stands to benefit from lithium's critical role in lithium-ion batteries. No lithium, no batteries. No batteries, no EVs. It's that simple.

The Stock Performance Tells the Story

SQM has crushed broader market returns in 2025, surging 64.77% year-to-date. Compare that to the S&P 500's 12.76% and the Dow Jones' 8.73% gains over the same period, and you can see why momentum traders are taking notice.

Looking at different timeframes, the stock has risen 51.76% over the past year, with gains of 71.83% over six months and 34.42% over one month. The stock was up 2.59% in premarket trading on Wednesday.

This performance comes as broader market indices showed mixed futures on Wednesday, following two consecutive days of declines for the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Dow Jones.

For investors trying to get exposure to the EV battery supply chain without betting directly on automakers, lithium suppliers like SQM offer an alternative angle. The momentum surge suggests the market is increasingly recognizing that angle's value.