BASF resumed with a Neutral at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs analyst Georgina Fraser resumed coverage of BASF with a Neutral rating and EUR 53 price target as part of a broader research note on European Chemicals. The 2023 destocking-driven sales pressure and margin contraction for much of the sector provides an easy comparable for EU Chemicals over the next 12 months, with the inflection being somewhat captured in the shares, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm adds that it sees a solid cyclical recovery to drive better volumes and eventually stronger prices and margins for BASF over the course of 2024 and into 2025, though it also sees some structural headwinds as preventing a normalisation to historical profitability trends, including European Deindustrialisation trends and increased capacity share of Chinese competitors/customers.