Vancouver, May 30, 2026, 08:04 PDT
- Methanex shares finished Friday at $59.10 on Nasdaq, with the stock closing at C$81.56 in Toronto.
- Nasdaq was shut for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, cutting the U.S. trading week short.
- June methanol list prices stay in focus for the stock. Methanex set North America at $4.45 a gallon, with Asia Pacific at $740 a tonne and China at $610 a tonne.
Methanex Corp. shares dropped on Friday as the stock closed out a weaker session to wrap up a shortened week. Investors now look to June methanol prices, which remain high, to see how that will play out when trading resumes Monday.
Methanex shares (Nasdaq: MEOH) slipped Friday, ending the session at $59.10, off 1.22%. The stock is down 1.7% from its May 22 close at $60.12, based on historical market data. Trading volume came in below the previous Friday’s level.
Methanex is starting to move more like a bet on methanol itself than a typical chemicals stock. Investors are looking for the jump in posted contract prices—benchmarks that set each month—to show up in its cash flow before the stock can break out again.
Methanex lagged Friday as the broader market moved up. Nasdaq Composite finished up 0.2%, same as the S&P 500. The Dow climbed 0.7%. The main U.S. indexes all posted gains for the day, leaving Methanex underperforming the tape.
Methanex finished at C$81.56 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, off 1.14% after trading between C$80.72 and C$82.80. TMX data puts the day’s range inside that band. The stock’s dual listing leaves both U.S. dollar and Canadian dollar investors in play.
Methanex is guiding for a stronger Q2 after posting first-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $220 million and adjusted net income of $23 million. The company said realized prices for April and May are expected in the $500 to $525 per tonne range, ahead of the Q1 average of $351.
Methanex CEO Rich Sumner told investors last month that the Middle East conflict had “meaningfully impacted” petrochemical supply chains and pushed methanol prices sharply higher. On the earnings call, Sumner said Methanex aimed “to run at 100%” in North America. He said New Zealand operations are still facing gas-basin problems. The Motley Fool
BMO Capital bumped its Methanex price target to $75 from $70 on May 1, staying at Outperform. Analysts are calling the price move a cash-flow play, pointing to the chance for strong free-cash-flow and debt cuts by the back half of 2026.
Scotiabank bumped its price target for Methanex to $80 from $70 on May 5, sticking with a Sector Outperform. The bank also raised its methanol price estimates, now seeing around $445 a tonne in 2026, $400 for 2027, and $375 in later years.
The scope of the peer read is tight. Celanese gets some methanol exposure from its Fairway Methanol JV in Clear Lake, Texas. Back in April, Celanese said it shifted methanol production to supply its polymer plant in Frankfurt. But Methanex draws more direct attention as a methanol bellwether because methanol sits at the center of its business.
The trade carries clear risk. Methanol prices could drop if supply issues clear up, China demand slips, or cheaper supply comes back sooner than forecasts. Methanex has flagged that output in 2026 could swing by quarter depending on gas supply, maintenance, outages, and other factors.
Investors this week are focused on June posted prices, chemical demand trends in Asia, and if the stock recovers after Friday’s slide. Also coming up, Methanex has its $0.185 quarterly dividend, set for June 30 for shareholders on record as of June 16.
