Chemours's Stock Jumps Into Record Territory After J.P. Morgan Turns Bullish For The First Time

Shares of Chemours Co. ran up 3% toward record highs in premarket trade Friday, after J.P. Morgan turned bullish on the chemicals company for the first time, citing optimism over the company's newer generation refrigerants. Analyst Jeffrey Zekauskas raised his rating to overweight, after being at neutral since August 2015. He started coverage of Chemours at underweight in June 2015. Zekauskas raised his stock price target to $50, which is 19% above Thursday's closing price of $41.88, from $39. "The simple and broad outline of the investment case for Chemours is that the company has a proprietary set of very profitable newer generation refrigerants with patent lives extending to 2022 with excellent growth potential," Zekauskas wrote in a note to clients. He said demand for the new refrigerants are growing from the auto market, boosted by regulatory changes aimed at minimizing global warming. The stock recently traded at $43.13 ahead of the open, above Thursday's all-time intraday high of $42.79. The stock has soared 90% year to date through Thursday, while the S&P 500 has gained 7%.