Celanese downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler analyst Charles Neivert downgraded Celanese to Underweight from Neutral with a price target of $112, down from $120. The analyst believes many of the actions the company is undertaking to raise cash “will prove detrimental to future growth and earnings.” In addition, Celanese has a “significant number of obstacles to overcome” in the markets it participates in “simply to get back to a situation where revenue and earnings can grow again,” the analyst tells investors in a research note. Piper sees the situation in Europe created by an overflow of Chinese product as particularly challenging and says it may take another 12 months or more to reverse.