FRANKFURT, May 4, 2026, 13:06 CEST
BASF shares pushed into the upper tier of Germany’s DAX on Monday, trading at 54.11 euros near midday even as the chemicals group went ex-dividend. WELT, citing dpa-infocom market data, put the stock up 3.09%, against a 0.39% gain for the DAX, and said the shares were 1.71% below their 52-week high of 55.05 euros.
The timing matters. Ex-dividend day is the first trading day when buyers no longer get the latest payout, which can weigh mechanically on the share price. BASF said shareholders approved a dividend of 2.25 euros per eligible share for 2025 at the April 30 annual meeting, with payment due from May 6.
That leaves the market weighing cash yield against valuation. Finanzen.net said the BASF share has risen 28.86% over one year on Xetra, while the total return including dividend was 40.77%, a strong backdrop for a stock that has also moved close to its one-year peak.
Barclays is not buying the rally. Analyst Katie Richards kept BASF at “Underweight” with a 40-euro price target, saying there was limited near-term upside and that the shares were more likely to consolidate while investors waited for fresh evidence; at 54.11 euros, finanzen.net said that target implied a 26.08% downside. Finanzen
BASF’s first-quarter numbers gave both sides something to work with. Sales fell by 488 million euros to 16.02 billion euros, while EBITDA before special items — earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, excluding one-off effects — slipped by 140 million euros to 2.356 billion euros. Chief Financial Officer Dirk Elvermann said BASF showed “resilience” and added that, without currency headwinds of more than 100 million euros, the measure would have reached the prior-year level. BASF
The company is trying to keep investors close with payouts. BASF says it aims to distribute at least 12 billion euros to shareholders from 2025 to 2028 through dividends and buybacks, including at least 8 billion euros in dividends and at least 4 billion euros in share repurchases.
Its dividend still stands out in the sector. Finanzen.net put BASF’s 2025 dividend yield at 5.06%, ahead of a peer group including Merck, Henkel preferred shares and Bayer; it listed Merck as the next-highest dividend name in that group, with a 2.20-euro payout and a 2.97% yield.
Shareholders also backed the restructuring plan. BASF’s annual meeting approved the profit appropriation resolution with 98.57% of valid votes, the hive-down of Agricultural Solutions — a legal transfer into a separate unit — with 99.66%, and a new buyback authorisation with 94.62%.
Chief Executive Markus Kamieth framed the changes as a move to cut complexity. In his shareholder speech, he said companies that “cut complexity” and “simplify” would win, pointing to the 7.7 billion-euro Coatings transaction with Carlyle and BASF’s plan to keep a 40% stake in that business, while targeting IPO readiness for Agricultural Solutions in 2027.
But the downside case is not hard to find. BASF maintained its 2026 forecast for EBITDA before special items of 6.2 billion to 7.0 billion euros and free cash flow of 1.5 billion to 2.3 billion euros, but warned that global growth assumptions may prove too optimistic, oil could be higher than expected and supply chains remain exposed to the Middle East conflict.
For now, the stock is being pulled by two dates: the May 6 dividend payment and the next earnings test. Finanzen.net said BASF is expected to present second-quarter figures on July 29, the point at which investors may get the evidence Barclays says is still missing.
