Amyris upgraded to Outperform; farnesene production, offtake, scale are key

In California, Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov upraded Amyris’ stock from Market Perform to Outperform with a share price target of $31, commenting that “With shares down 13% since March 24, erasing virtually all of the year-to-date gains, we believe the risk/reward profile has become more attractive.”

Molchanov wrote that “this won’t be an earnings story until the second half of 2012 or even 2013…here are the catalysts we would expect this year. First, 2Q11 should be the first full quarter of commercial farnesene production…Second, as has been continually visible over the past six months, Amyris continues to add offtake partners in both fuel and chemical end markets…third, we expect to hear project status updates on the company’s first large-scale production plant in Brazil – the joint venture with Grupo São Martinho – which should drive positive companywide EBITDA upon start-up in 2Q12.”

More on the story.