The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, Dec. 13, edition that Desjardins Securities analyst Chris MacCulloch has reaffirmed his "buy" recommendation for Cenovus Energy. The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. MacCulloch tweaked his share target ahead by 50 cents to $30.50. Analysts on average target the shares at $31.67. Mr. MacCulloch notes that the downstream manufacturing segment is facing near-term challenges from declining Midwest crack spreads. However, he praises Cenovus Energy for its improved upstream cash costs and strong growth potential moving into 2026, which could significantly boost free cash flow after the three-year investment cycle. Mr. MacCulloch says in a note: "Cenovus outlined a $4.6–billion to $5-billion capital budget, the mid-point of which closely aligned with consensus ($4.8-billion) and our assumption ($4.9-billion), which included $3.2-billion of sustaining capital and $1.4–1.8-billion of growth capex to advance numerous major upstream projects. Downstream throughput guidance was set at 650–685 mbbl/d (93-per-cent utilization), which was above our prior forecast (657 mbbl/d), reflecting continued improvements to operational reliability."