Wells Fargo analyst Truman Patterson upgraded Owens Corning to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $77, up from $68. The analyst's industry contacts suggest Owens Corning announced an 8% U.S. residential insulation price hike for both loose-fill and batt and roll on Friday, effective January 13. Patterson does not believe any insulation pricing is in consensus estimates for the company. Further, the analyst thinks 2020 housing starts likely increase in the mid-to-high single-digit range. This could lead to another price hike later in 2020 given the industry's 90% capacity utilization levels following Owens' capacity adjustments, says Patterson.

Sees Q2 EBIT margin 20%. Sees FY24 effective tax rate 24%-26%.

Sees FY24 interest expense $70M-$80M; effective tax rate on adjusted earnings 24%-26%; capital additions $550M; and depreciation and amortization $550M.