Westlake’s concerns balanced with opportunity, says BofA in upgrade to Neutral

BofA upgraded Westlake to Neutral from Underperform with a price target of $159, up from $151. The firm says near-term concerns are now balanced with a more favorable mid- and long-term opportunity. BofA remains cautious on PVC S/D as it seems like new U.S. capacity is hitting the market while housing demand is sluggish, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Longer term, global PVC demand should improve slowly, while Westlake’s homebuilding end markets recover, though the firm doesn’t see any more major capacity adds until the end of the decade. BofA says Westlake’s Housing & Infrastructure Products could have downside even as the housing market recovers.