BASF Keeps Up the Pressure on Evonik! Novo Nordisk Makes a Comeback! Is Strategic Resources Next?

BASF refuses to give up on Evonik

BASF refuses to give up on Evonik. According to media reports, the Ludwigshafen-based company has increased its takeover offer for the speciality chemicals group to EUR 24 per share. This would value Evonik at around EUR 11.2 billion. However, even the improved offer has been rebuffed by Evonik's management board. The company announced that it would not enter into takeover talks with BASF. Evonik intends to continue pursuing its independent strategy. The RAG-Stiftung, which holds around 44% of Evonik's shares, plays an important role. Without its support, a takeover would be almost impossible. No formal public takeover offer has been made so far.

BASF shareholders are not being deterred by a potentially increasingly expensive takeover of Evonik. The share price recently climbed to a new yearly high. The gain since the start of the year now stands at around 25%. Investors apparently trust the group to create value through the takeover. However, investor sentiment could quickly turn. 

Meanwhile, BASF is pressing ahead with streamlining its portfolio. Yesterday it emerged that the group intends to sell its Palatal business in Chile to ALTA Performance Materials. An agreement to this effect has been signed. Palatal produces vinyl ester and unsaturated polyester resins at its Concón site, which are used in the construction and mining industries, among others. For ALTA, the acquisition means expanding its presence in South America to two production sites. The sale allows BASF to focus more closely on its core chemicals businesses. Financial details were not disclosed.

Strategic Resources: Share price poised for a comeback?

Strategic Resources shares have lost around 34% of their value over the past six months. The current level could offer an attractive entry opportunity. 

The steel industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation. To reduce CO₂ emissions, manufacturers worldwide are investing in new production processes. These often rely on electric arc furnaces (EAF). According to Strategic Resources, electric steelmaking can reduce emissions by around 75%. This is changing raw material requirements. Instead of iron ore and coke, electric arc furnaces require metallic feedstocks such as steel scrap, direct reduced iron (DRI) and pig iron. Global demand for DRI could thus rise from around 140 million tonnes in 2024 to as much as 414 million tonnes by 2050. At the same time, steel scrap is only available in limited quantities. This poses a risk of shortages, and high-quality iron ore pellets are becoming increasingly important.

Strategic Resources aims to benefit from this. The Canadian company sees the actual bottleneck less in iron ore deposits than in processing capacity. According to the company, Canada alone has around 70 million tonnes of iron ore suitable for pelletising available annually. Existing pelletising capacity, by contrast, amounts to just 23 million tonnes. Moreover, these are predominantly older plants that can hardly be expanded due to a lack of natural gas connections. Strategic Resources aims to close this gap with its BlackRock project in Québec. The planned production site at the deep-water port of Saguenay has access to low-cost hydropower and natural gas. This could enable BlackRock to produce high-quality intermediate steel products at competitive costs and with comparatively low CO₂ emissions. 

BlackRock is already well advanced. According to the company, the mine in northern Québec and the metallurgical complex in Saguenay have been approved for construction. The mine's approved life is 39 years. With additional resources and expansions, the company even sees potential for more than 100 years. The metallurgical plant already has a permit for annual production of more than 550,000 tonnes of pig iron. The infrastructure is also well developed. This includes the rail connection, the year-round deep-water port and the energy supply. The Québec government, a major shareholder, provides political support and has already invested substantial capital in the project. The raw materials vanadium and titanium, which could also be extracted at BlackRock, offer additional prospects. Strategic Resources considers annual production of 120,000 tonnes of titanium and 40,000 tonnes of vanadium possible. 

Incidentally, Strategic Resources has a foothold in Europe through its Mustavaara project in Finland. This is a former vanadium and iron ore mine around 180 km northwest of Oulu. It has a mineral resource of around 104 million tonnes in the Measured and Indicated categories, with an average magnetite content of 15.4%. It also has a further 42 million tonnes of inferred resources. In June 2026, Strategic Resources reported an important step forward. The vanadium-rich magnetite concentrate from Mustavaara was selected for the Finnish research project FutSteel to develop low-emission steelmaking processes. Strategic Resources' concentrate is to be examined for its suitability for hydrogen-based direct reduction of iron.

Novo Nordisk: Comeback under way

While a share price comeback may still lie ahead for Strategic Resources, Novo Nordisk's is already underway. After a challenging year marked by profit warnings and a massive share price decline, there is finally some positive news again. The Danish pharmaceutical group beat expectations with its third-quarter results. For a change, it raised its guidance. Investors reacted with relief, and shares gained around 5% in value. However, the stock is still trading around 75% below its record high from 2024.

Operational performance in the third quarter was better than expected. Revenue rose by 6% to DKK 79.2 billion (around EUR 10.6 billion). Adjusted operating profit increased by as much as 27% to DKK 31.7 billion. The obesity drug business performed particularly well. Revenue rose 22% at constant exchange rates to DKK 26.2 billion. One growth driver is the tablet version of Wegovy, which already generated DKK 5.4 billion in revenue, significantly exceeding market expectations. For the full year, Novo Nordisk now expects a change of between minus 2% and plus 2% in adjusted revenue and operating profit at constant exchange rates. Previously, the group had forecast a decline of up to 6%. Management expects additional momentum from the international expansion of Wegovy and the new obesity drug CagriSema.

However, leading analysts remain cautious. JPMorgan and Jefferies confirmed their Neutral ratings following the quarterly results, each with a price target of DKK 275. For a sustained turnaround, Novo Nordisk must now show that growth is picking up again on a lasting basis, despite fierce competition from Eli Lilly.

Conclusion

The performance of BASF shares this year is encouraging. However, sentiment can quickly turn if shareholders consider the purchase price for Evonik too high. An interesting comeback story is developing at Strategic Resources. Novo Nordisk has squandered a great deal of trust. The latest quarterly results are a start towards regaining it.