APD vs WLKP vs ALTO Stock Comparison

Air Products & Chemicals, Westlake Chemical Partners and Alto Ingredients Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ALTO Alto Ingredients, Inc.
$3.61 -3.2% 1M +234.3% 1Y
Market cap
$276.46M
P/E
5.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$943.33M
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Alto Ingredients leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Alto Ingredients 6, Westlake Chemical Partners 4, Air Products & Chemicals 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAPDWLKPALTOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $68.08B $744.57M $276.46M APD
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -1,439x 12.9x 5.5x ALTO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.9x 14.4x 9.8x ALTO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.5% +12.1% +1.1% WLKP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -0.4% 4.7% 5.4% ALTO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 0.0% 30.1% — WLKP
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 17.4x 0.7x 0.6x ALTO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.09% 0.00% WLKP
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +20.5% +9.4% +234.3% ALTO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +1.1%/yr -3.8%/yr -8.8%/yr APD
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 26.3% 18.7% 86.5% WLKP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 38/100 85/100 85/100 ALTO

Percentile Scorecard

APDWLKPALTO

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAPDWLKPALTO
Valuation 18 #77 of 94 98 #3 of 94 100 #1 of 94
Growth 43 #53 of 92 56 #41 of 92 96 #5 of 92
Profitability 50 #45 of 89 100 #1 of 89 66 #31 of 89
Financial Health 20 #78 of 97 84 #16 of 97 79 #21 of 97
Shareholder Returns 59 #29 of 70 87 #10 of 70 –
Overall 38 85 85
  • APD ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • WLKP ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • ALTO ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAPDWLKPALTOSPY
1 month +6.9%-0.9%-3.2% -1.0%
3 months +3.0%-4.5%-22.2% +2.9%
6 months +1.8%-6.3%-32.1% +6.4%
Year to date +24.3%+11.3%+25.3% +11.4%
1 year +20.5%+9.4%+234.3% +13.1%
3 years +10.8%0.0%-7.0% +79.4%
3 years, per year +3.5%0.0%-2.4% +21.5%
5 years +5.4%-17.7%-37.0% +67.7%
5 years, per year +1.1%-3.8%-8.8% +10.9%
10 years +128.4%-6.1%-51.5% +255.2%
10 years, per year +8.6%-0.6%-7.0% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureAPDWLKPALTOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 26.3%18.7%86.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.5%17.9%68.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.070.220.28 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.780.502.71 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.8%-38.8%-89.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.3%-10.8%-39.7% -2.5%
52-week high $314.19$23.72$5.99 $779.14
52-week low $230.76$17.87$1.01 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAPDWLKPALTO
P/E now vs peer median -1,446xmedian 21.5x 12.9xmedian 21.5x 5.4xmedian 21.5x
P/S now vs peer median 5.4xmedian 1.4x 0.6xmedian 1.4x 0.3xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 89.3xmedian 12.4x 2.2xmedian 12.4x 5.1xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median -226.9xmedian 15.5x 1.8xmedian 15.5x 5.6xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median 4.1xmedian 1.6x 1.0xmedian 1.6x 1.1xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 54.70median 1.70 —median 1.70 0.14median 1.70

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAPDWLKPALTO
Revenue $12.60B $1.23B $943.33M
Gross profit $4.04B $384.80M $64.51M
Operating income -$593.10M $355.62M $35.61M
Net income -$19.70M $334.49M $51.99M
Free cash flow -$301.40M $409.14M $49.94M
R&D $90.80M – –
EPS (diluted) $-0.21 – $0.66
Cash & equivalents $980.50M $49.32M $23.96M
Total debt $17.48B $1.60B $60.47M
Shares (diluted) 222.80M – 77.07M
Enterprise value $63.27B $568.75M $176.26M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAPDWLKPALTO
P/E -1,446x 12.9x 5.4x
P/FCF -226.9x 1.8x 5.6x
P/Operating cash flow 15.0x 1.6x 4.3x
P/S 5.4x 0.6x 0.3x
P/B 4.1x 1.0x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 4.2x 1.0x 1.1x
EV/EBITDA 89.3x 2.2x 5.1x
EV/EBIT -143.1x 3.1x 8.9x
EV/Revenue 6.7x 0.9x 0.3x
EV/FCF -281.6x 2.7x 6.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.6x 2.4x 4.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 54.70 – 0.14

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAPDWLKPALTO
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.5% 12.1% 1.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.0% -3.0% -10.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.1% 4.8% 7,720%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.7% 0.2% 63.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) -138.7% 4.7% 162.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -31.0% 0.0% 37.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -101.2% 4.7% 177.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -26.2% -0.2% 40.6%
EPS growth (1Y) -103.1% – 172.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -26.4% – 39.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 54.8% 48.6% 731.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.1% -1.1% 63.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 93.5% 67.7% 481.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 27.5% -2.6% 38.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAPDWLKPALTO
Gross margin 32.1% 31.2% 6.8%
EBITDA margin 7.5% 40.0% 6.6%
Operating margin -4.7% 28.8% 3.8%
Pretax margin -0.7% 27.1% 5.4%
Net margin -0.4% 4.7% 5.4%
FCF margin -2.4% 33.1% 5.3%
Operating cash flow margin 36.3% 37.7% 6.9%
Return on equity 0.0% 42.8% 20.2%
Return on assets 0.0% 27.3% 13.1%
Return on invested capital 0.0% 30.1% –
Return on capital employed -1.6% 30.1% 10.4%
Asset turnover 0.3x 1.0x 2.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -232.0x 1.4x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% – 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAPDWLKPALTO
Debt / assets 43.2% 32.8% 15.2%
Debt / equity 1.1x 0.5x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 17.4x 0.7x 0.6x
Debt / FCF -58.0x 1.0x 1.2x
Liabilities / assets 59.0% 36.8% 34.6%
Equity / assets 41.0% 63.2% 65.4%
Interest coverage -2.7x 16.4x 3.8x
Current ratio 1.1x 3.4x 3.2x
Quick ratio 0.6x 1.9x 1.8x
Cash ratio 0.2x 1.1x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 2.56 – 1.42

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAPDWLKPALTO
Dividend yield 2.4% 8.9% –
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 2.4% 8.9% –
Payout ratio (earnings) -8,114% 19.9% –
Payout ratio (FCF) -530.3% 16.2% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.2% 0.0% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 2.9% 0.0% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAPDWLKPALTO
Forward P/E 21.9xFY2026 14.4xFY2026 9.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $14.01FY2026 $1.47FY2026 $0.37FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.5%FY2026 +6.5%FY2026 +131.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +5.3% +20.4% -16.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $12.02BFY2026 $1.31BFY2026 $1.00BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -0.2%FY2026 +11.8%FY2026 +9.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.6% +16.9% +1.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAPDWLKPALTO
Held by institutions 91.2% 29.1% 46.3%
Institutions holding 1,772 56 134
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.0% -0.2% +14.2%
Institutions buying 745 26 97
Institutions selling 722 13 25
Buyers to sellers 1.03 2.00 3.88

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

APDWLKPALTO
APD 1.00 0.13 0.16
WLKP 0.13 1.00 0.11
ALTO 0.16 0.11 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, APD, WLKP and ALTO?

Air Products & Chemicals (APD) is the largest by market capitalisation: Air Products & Chemicals (APD) $68.08B, Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP) $744.57M, Alto Ingredients (ALTO) $276.46M.

Which stock is cheaper, APD, WLKP and ALTO?

Alto Ingredients (ALTO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) -1,439x, Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP) 12.9x, Alto Ingredients (ALTO) 5.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Alto Ingredients (ALTO) is cheapest (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 21.9x, Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP) 14.4x, Alto Ingredients (ALTO) 9.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Air Products & Chemicals (APD) +4.5%, Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP) +12.1%, Alto Ingredients (ALTO) +1.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Alto Ingredients (ALTO) has the highest net margin (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) -0.4%, Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP) 4.7%, Alto Ingredients (ALTO) 5.4%). On return on invested capital, Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP) leads (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 0.0%, Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP) 30.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Alto Ingredients (ALTO) returned the most: Air Products & Chemicals (APD) +20.5%, Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP) +9.4%, Alto Ingredients (ALTO) +234.3%. Over five years, Air Products & Chemicals (APD) compounded fastest (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) +1.1%/yr, Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP) -3.8%/yr, Alto Ingredients (ALTO) -8.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP) has the highest dividend yield: Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 0.02%, Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP) 0.09%, Alto Ingredients (ALTO) 0.00%. Alto Ingredients (ALTO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP) has been the steadiest (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 26.3%, Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP) 18.7%, Alto Ingredients (ALTO) 86.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, APD, WLKP and ALTO?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Alto Ingredients (ALTO) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.