Axalta Coating upgraded to Overweight at Wells Fargo amid pivot to growth phase

Wells Fargo upgraded Axalta Coating to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $42, up from $33, after its Q1 earnings beat and FY24 guidance raise. The firm sees a strong earnings recovery in 2024 as the company “pivots to a growth phase”, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The company’s low-single-digit organic sales growth in Refinish and in Light Vehicle segments should continue, with organic growth in Industrial Coatings also set to turn positive in Q2, leading to mid-single-digit organic sales growth on a consolidated basis in Q2 and low-single-digit growth in the second half of the year.