Evonik's Pharma Pipeline Advances as Berenberg Ends Its Bearish Call

Berenberg lifts Evonik to Hold with a EUR 20 target, citing BASF interest, as the group advances biodegradable EUDRAGIT polymers and plans 3,200 job cuts.

Evonik is pressing ahead with a biodegradable polymer platform designed to underpin the next generation of its EUDRAGIT excipients — the additives used to deliver oral medicines. The Essen-based specialty chemicals group is positioning the technology as an operational counterweight to the corporate upheaval now unfolding around it, and as a stake in a high-margin growth niche.

The announcement lands days after takeover speculation briefly turned Evonik into one of the most talked-about names in German chemicals.

Berenberg Flips, and the Street Takes Notice

Berenberg upgraded Evonik from "Sell" to "Hold" today, with analyst Sebastian Bray lifting his price target to EUR 20 from EUR 15.50. Bray tied the move to BASF's strategic interest in its smaller rival, arguing that it could put a dependable floor under the share price even if methionine pricing stays under pressure.

The market responded in kind: the stock added 0.6% to EUR 20.78, leaving it just shy of its 52-week high of EUR 20.98. That is a markedly different picture from mid-September, when Morgan Stanley's Lisa De Neve cut the shares to "Equal-weight" from "Overweight," citing falling methionine prices and soft demand in Asia.

Deutsche Bank Research, for its part, kept Evonik at "Hold" last Thursday with an EUR 18 target. Analyst Virginie Boucher-Ferte expects EBITDA of EUR 640 million for the most recent quarter. Evonik will publish its third-quarter 2026 interim statement on 3 November.

A Bid Rejected, a Floor Suggested

Roughly a week ago, BASF confirmed exploratory talks over a possible acquisition of Evonik, alongside the RAG-Stiftung, while stressing that no outcome was assured. Evonik has gained 4.9% since those contacts became public. Press reports indicate the group turned down an unsolicited offer of about EUR 22.15 per share as too low and declined to open due diligence; Handelsblatt put the volume of that first approach at roughly EUR 10 billion. Neither company commented on specific figures at the time, and both emphasized that no formal negotiations were underway.

Year to date, the shares are up 55%, trading about 1.0% below the 52-week peak of EUR 20.98 — a level the stock touched again in today's session.

Cutting Costs While Buying Growth

Running in parallel with the external interest is Evonik's own overhaul. The second phase of the "Evonik Tailor Made" savings and efficiency program, announced on 22 September, foresees 3,200 job cuts worldwide from 2027, including about 2,150 at German sites. Management is also shedding peripheral operations: subsidiaries Oxeno and Syneqt are formally up for sale, part of a push to sharpen the focus on higher-growth specialty chemicals and hive off more cyclical businesses.

Not everything is retrenchment. In September, Evonik began expanding biotech capacity at its Slovenská ?up?a site in Slovakia, a project worth around EUR 80 million.