Celanese upgraded at J.P. Morgan, with earnings seen rising sharply in 2026

[The Celanese corporation plant in Lanaken, Belgium. This corporation is a global chemica]
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Celanese (CE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CE]) up 0.8% in Tuesday's trading as J.P. Morgan upgraded the specialty chemicals company to Overweight from Neutral with a $68 price target, noting the shares fell 14% last week on disappointment with expected growth in the company's free cash flow generation, in addition to lower tensions around the conflict in Iran.

Celanese (CE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CE]) likely will grow earnings sharply in 2026 because of price inflation in acetic acid derivatives such as VAM and VAE, as well as from acetic acid itself, JPM analyst Jeffrey Zekauskas said, also expecting shortage conditions in the acetyl chain to persist, which could keep average acetyl chemicals prices at elevated levels in the near term as a base case; acetyl chemicals are built up from methanol and ethylene, and Celanese produces and purchases these chemicals at low cost because of its large North American operations.

"The longer the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the longer raw material values remain dislocated, leading to higher average acetic acid and vinyl acetate monomer prices as a base case," Zekauskas wrote, adding that he expects Celanese (CE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CE]) to throw off 11%-13% of its share price in free cash flow in 2026-27.

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* Celanese Is Worth Buying After Earnings (Technical Analysis) [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4873234-celanese-is-worth-buying-after-earnings-technical-analysis]
* Celanese: Cost Cutting And Deleveraging Have Made It A Buy (Rating Upgrade) [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4866348-celanese-cost-cutting-and-deleveraging-have-made-it-a-buy-rating-upgrade]