Westlake price target lowered to $135 from $144 at BofA

BofA analyst Steve Byrne lowered the firm’s price target on Westlake to $135 from $144 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. U.S. commodity chemical companies have very back-half weighted earnings expectations for 2023, whether explicitly guided or not, and this weighting runs counter to normal seasonality considering how much of these businesses are tied to North American and European construction, the firm tells investors. However, economic momentum is not materializing and with a lack of economic momentum, feedstock deflation has set in, notes the firm, which has cut estimates across the commodity sub-sector, lowered targets for a number of commodity chemical stocks.