BofA Securities analyst Steve Byrne downgraded FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) from Neutral to Underperform, lowering the price target to $57 from $60.
The analyst estimates the company’s volume contraction in 2023 at 20%, more than offsetting the prior 2-year volume gain of 18%.
The volume contraction assumes global inventory levels of crop chemicals approaching normal levels, which suggests flattish underlying demand.
Per Byrne, the lack of visibility about monitoring and managing channel inventory levels will need to be improved.
The analyst also highlighted concerns that the relatively undisciplined global crop chemical industry (vs. seed producers) could lead to aggressive price actions in ...