Canaccord upgrades Antofagasta to 'buy'

(Sharecast News) - Canaccord Genuity maintained its price target on Antofagasta on Monday at 2,065p on the back of improving year-on-year profit trends in 2025. It also lifted its rating on the stock to 'buy' from 'hold' as it noted the shares have pulled back over 30% from their peak of above 2,400p in May 2024 and said Antofagasta "is starting to look attractively valued again".

Canaccord said it now sees a potential upside of 30% to its price target, excluding the Zaldivar copper mine from 2Q25.

"However, should a positive permit decision come through for Zaldivar, we see a potential upside of 15-20kt to our revised 2025 production forecasts," it said.

Canaccord said it had lowered its production and EBITDA forecasts for FY2024/25, mainly driven by more conservative volume forecasts across all operations, excluding oxide deposit Antucoya.

"This includes removing Zaldivar volumes from 2Q25 to remain conservative in the event of a delay in the permitting process.

"We have also increased capex in 2025 to US$3.65bn, which raises our 2025 net debt forecast to US$3.0bn."