Berenberg downgrades Evonik on price protection, volume growth doubts

Evonik Industries AG

07/01/2026 09:49

** Berenberg cuts Evonik EVKn.DE to "sell" from "hold", saying it is "sceptical" about the German chemicals group's ability to protect its prices from industry pressure and grow volumes enough to meet consensus expectations for earnings from 2026

    ** The broker notes increased global capacity of methionine, driven by production in China from 2027, will lead to lower prices for the chemical and a cut to industry utilisation rates

** "We believe methionine, historically a good cash generator for Evonik, may fall into an economically 'troubled' category of structurally low-margin chemicals by around 2030," the broker says

** The broker says the company will likely respond to the pressure with incremental change, while it should consider more radical measures such as removing over half of the dividend and breaking up units that have little connection with each other

** It cuts its PT by about 20% to 11.6 euros

** Out of 17 analysts covering Evonik, four rate the stock "strong buy" or "buy", ​eight rate it "hold" and five​ rate it "strong sell" or "sell" - LSEG data

 (Reporting by Danny Callaghan)

 ((danny.callaghan@thomsonreuters.com))