BUZZ-Celanese gains on BofA double upgrade

** Shares of specialty chemicals firm Celanese CE.N up 2.8% to $69.25 before the bell as BofA Global Research raises rating to 'buy' from 'underperform'

** Upgrade driven by signs the acetyls market is bottoming and expected demand recovery in the years ahead for most of CE’s products, BofA says in note to clients

** CE's leverage remains addressable with free cash flow (FCF) without without major dilutive actions needed as this point, BofA says

** Brokerage forecasts over $1.2 bln in 2025 FCF, and over $1 bln even if 2025 EBITDA is flat y/y, adding that should suffice to repay most of debt due with limited refinancing

** Still, BofA lowers PT by $7 to $88, or ~31% above stock's last close

** On Nov 5, CE's shares tumbled ~26% to $91 after co temporarily slashed its qtrly dividend by ~95%, and laid out additional cost-cut plans after profit slump, as engineered materials segment impacted by rapid slowdowns in commercial activity in both automotive and industrial businesses

** Now, of 21 brokerages covering CE, recommendation breakdown is 5 "strong buy" or "buy", 11 "hold" and 5 "sell" or "strong sell", LSEG data shows

** Median PT of $85.50 down from $144 on Oct 14

** Through Mon close, shares off 2.6% YTD. In 2024, stock shed 55% while S&P 500 Materials sector .SPLRCM lost ~2% and S&P 500 .SPX rose ~23%

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))