RBC Capital analysts lowered their price target on Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) to $60 from $65 given the higher risk of a recession potentially leading to lower methanol prices. However, the analysts maintained their outperform rating reflecting expected strong free cash flow generation, supporting a robust pace of share buybacks.
Methanol prices in China have trended lower recently due to healthy inventory levels and weak sentiment, but IHS Markit expects the start-up of a new MTO facility in China should increase demand and support higher prices in the second half of the year.
The analysts revised their 2022 and 2023 Adjusted EBITDA estimates to $1.108 billion and $1.064 billion, respectively (from $1.154 billion and $1.076 billion, respectively).