Celanese (NYSE:CE) Given New $68.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan raised its price target on Celanese from $53 to $68 while keeping a "neutral" rating, implying roughly a 15.8% upside from the current price.
• Celanese's Q1 results missed expectations (EPS $0.85 vs. $0.88; revenue down ~2.2% YoY), but management issued strong Q2 2026 guidance of $2.00–$2.40 and announced cost actions (including a $30M Nylon‑66 savings plan) aimed at driving margin recovery and ~\$3 EPS in 2H 2026.
• The street view is mixed: the consensus rating is a "Hold" with a consensus price target of about $67.29 and analyst split of 9 Buys, 9 Holds and 1 Sell.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $53.00 to $68.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the basic materials company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.80% from the company's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on CE. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Evercore set a $63.00 price target on shares of Celanese in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Celanese from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Celanese from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Celanese from $50.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Celanese has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $67.29.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of CE stock traded down $3.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $58.72. The company had a trading volume of 2,125,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,493,166. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. The stock's 50-day moving average is $60.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.81. Celanese has a 52 week low of $35.13 and a 52 week high of $70.70.

Celanese (NYSE:CE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Celanese had a positive return on equity of 9.74% and a negative net margin of 11.54%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. Celanese has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.000-2.400 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Celanese will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Celanese

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CE. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 1,539.8% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,133,216 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $90,192,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003,127 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,565,556 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $235,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076,645 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 21.0% during the third quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,115,365 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $215,255,000 after purchasing an additional 887,600 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 103.7% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,645,689 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $91,056,000 after purchasing an additional 837,944 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Celanese by 872.6% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 693,796 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,195,000 after purchasing an additional 622,460 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Key Celanese News

Here are the key news stories impacting Celanese this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company issued strong Q2 2026 EPS guidance of $2.00–$2.40, well above the Street consensus (1.54), signaling a materially stronger back half and giving investors forward earnings visibility. Q2 Guidance / Press Deck
• Positive Sentiment: Major sell-side support: Morgan Stanley published a bullish price target (cited as $72) and other firms have raised targets recently (median ~ $68), providing upside narrative for investors. This analyst momentum can support the stock on the guidance beat expectation. Morgan Stanley Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Operational actions: Celanese outlined strategic nylon uplift initiatives and a $30M Nylon‑66 savings plan aimed at improving margins in engineered materials, plus targeted ~$3 EPS in 2H 2026 — concrete cost actions that support margin recovery. Nylon Initiatives
• Neutral Sentiment: Balance sheet / cash flow improved: operating cash rose sharply year-over‑year and cash balances increased materially, which reduces near‑term liquidity risk and supports buybacks/deleveraging optionality. Q1 Cash Flow Summary
• Neutral Sentiment: R&D / sustainability collaboration: Celanese and SharpCell announced CCU work for airlaid nonwovens/pulp & paper — positive for longer‑term product differentiation but unlikely to move near‑term results materially. CCU Collaboration
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 reported results were mixed and missed near-term expectations: EPS missed consensus (~$0.85 vs $0.88) and revenue was down ~2.2% year‑over‑year, prompting investor caution on demand trends. Market commentary highlights the miss despite some operating profit improvement. Earnings Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Relative performance: market reports show CE underperformed peers on the session, suggesting investors may be rotating into other cyclicals or penalizing near‑term EPS misses despite upbeat guidance. Underperformance Note

About Celanese

Celanese Corporation is a global chemical and specialty materials company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of products serving diverse industries. The company operates through two primary business segments—Engineered Materials and Acetyl Chain—offering solutions that range from high-performance polymers and specialty additives to industrial chemicals and intermediates. Its engineered materials are used in applications such as automotive components, consumer electronics, medical devices and packaging, while its acetyl derivatives find uses in coatings, adhesives, solvents and personal care products.

In the Engineered Materials segment, Celanese produces a variety of high-performance thermoplastics, polyether-block-amide (PEBA) elastomers and functional additives designed to enhance product durability, thermal resistance and sustainability.

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