Piper Jaffray Lowers PT On MBLX To $5

Piper Jaffray is loweing its price target on Metabolix MBLX but is maintaining an Underweight rating on the stock. Says Piper Jaffray, in its report, “We maintain our Underweight rating on shares of MBLX following a series of conversations with 8 of the company's 10 customers. We believe these customers are placing undue reliance on either premium pricing, legislation, or both to provide demand support for their Mirel-based products; a model that at best has low visibility into potential volumes for Mirel, and at worst may not result in any significant volume. Price premiums – ranging from 10% to 500+% above the incumbent materials – and uncertain compostability mandates in the U.S. and Canada have made an unstable foundation for demand expectations. As such, our price target goes to $5.” MBLX closed yesterday at $7.21.