Eastman Chemical upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

JPMorgan analyst Jeffrey Zekauskas upgraded Eastman Chemical to Overweight from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $90. The analyst thinks “there is room for Eastman’s earnings to rebound in 2024.” The company’s businesses in 2023 have been penalized by de-stocking effects in the durable goods markets, the coatings markets, as well as by poor profits in its commodity chemical intermediates businesses, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, the firm thinks that the beginning of a normalization of returns in chemical intermediates, persistently high margins in fibers, and volume normalization across Eastman’s operations should lead to strong earnings growth as a base case for 2024.