Westlake downgraded to Underperform at Scotiabank on macro headwinds

As previously reported, Scotiabank analyst Ben Isaacson downgraded Westlake to Underperform from Sector Perform with a price target of $100, down from $122. Westlake has higher North American exposure than most of its chemical peers at a time when the U.S. is likely to enter a recession on a lagged basis, Issacson tells investors. Meanwhile, new residential home starts continues to weaken, integrated PVC margin compression is ongoing and weak domestic demand for PE/PVC have led to increased exports for Westlake but export PVC prices are much lower than domestic contract prices, Isaacson added.