SQM price target raised to $43.50 from $36.50 at BofA

BofA analyst Isabella Simonato raised the firm’s price target on SQM (SQM) to $43.50 from $36.50 and keeps an Underperform rating on the shares. SQM shares rallied 28% in August, outperforming the 16% rise in spot lithium carbonate prices in China, the analyst tells investors. While acknowledging that the new price level “seems to be sustainable for a longer period,” the firm thinks that the move was “overdone” and risk/return is unfavorable so it reiterates an Underperform rating given its view that further upside to lithium prices depends on additional supply cuts in China in September and that SQM’s relative valuation to peers is “unattractive.”