RBC Capital upgraded Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) to Outperform from Sector Perform and raised its price target to $125 from $98. Shares rose more than 6% today.

The upgrade reflects better-than-expected M&M integration, double-digit growth anticipated in EM, a Q1/23 trough in AC EBIT, and solid deleveraging.

According to the analysts, the company's acquisition of DD's M&M business in Q4 is not currently performing in line with its expectations or even in line with M&M's performance in 2021, driven mainly by poor demand in Europe/China, insufficient commercial flexibility, inflationary pressures, and FX headwinds.

The analysts raised their 2023/24 EBITDA estimates to $3.2 billion/3.5 billion, up from $3.0 billion/$3.3 billion previously.