CE vs WLK Stock Comparison

Celanese and Westlake Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CE Celanese Corp
$48.10 +2.2% 1M +14.0% 1Y
Market cap
$5.28B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$9.71B
Div. yield
0.25%
Commodity Chemicals Basic Materials
4 wins
WLK Westlake Corp
$65.31 -3.6% 1M -17.6% 1Y
Market cap
$8.35B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$11.29B
Div. yield
3.25%
Commodity Chemicals Basic Materials
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Westlake leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Westlake 7, Celanese 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCEWLKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.28B $8.35B WLK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -4.5x -6.8x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 7.6x 33.8x CE
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -2.2% -4.0% CE
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -12.0% -10.9% WLK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -4.1% -8.0% CE
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 63.7x -42.9x WLK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.25% 3.25% WLK
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +14.0% -17.6% CE
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -21.7%/yr -7.4%/yr WLK
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 51.7% 43.5% WLK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 36/100 45/100 WLK

Percentile Scorecard

CEWLK

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

AxisCEWLK
Valuation 61 #14 of 34 55 #16 of 34
Growth 31 #23 of 33 3 #32 of 33
Profitability 48 #16 of 30 35 #20 of 30
Financial Health 23 #28 of 36 49 #19 of 36
Shareholder Returns 18 #19 of 23 82 #5 of 23
Overall 36 45
  • CE ranked among 38 companies in Chemicals
  • WLK ranked among 38 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCEWLKSPY
1 month +2.2%-3.6% -0.8%
3 months +8.4%-9.7% +3.5%
6 months -26.1%-41.3% +7.0%
Year to date +13.8%-11.7% +12.2%
1 year +14.0%-17.6% +13.0%
3 years -57.6%-43.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year -24.9%-17.1% +23.1%
5 years -70.6%-31.8% +68.6%
5 years, per year -21.7%-7.4% +11.0%
10 years -32.4%+27.4% +258.0%
10 years, per year -3.8%+2.5% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCEWLKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 51.7%43.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 47.1%38.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.400.46 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.27-0.40 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -79.6%-65.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -30.5%-47.1% -1.8%
52-week high $69.24$123.39 $779.14
52-week low $35.53$56.38 $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.

MultipleCEWLK
P/E now vs peer median -4.5xmedian 17.4x -6.8xmedian 17.4x
P/S now vs peer median 0.5xmedian 1.2x 0.7xmedian 1.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 95.3xmedian 12.4x -154.2xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 7.5xmedian 10.3x -31.5xmedian 10.3x
P/B now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 1.2x 0.9xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.11median 1.64 0.16median 1.64

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 monthsCEWLK
Revenue $9.71B $11.29B
Gross profit $2.03B $1.09B
Operating income -$692.00M -$1.25B
Net income -$1.16B -$1.21B
Free cash flow $708.00M -$265.00M
R&D $120.00M –
EPS (diluted) $-10.60 $-9.61
Cash & equivalents $1.36B $1.64B
Total debt $12.01B $5.07B
Shares (diluted) 110.25M 128.50M
Enterprise value -$125.08M -$531.61M

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
MetricCEWLK
P/E -4.5x -6.8x
P/FCF 7.5x -31.5x
P/Operating cash flow 5.4x 13.2x
P/S 0.5x 0.7x
P/B 1.2x 0.9x
P/Tangible book 3.5x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA 95.3x -154.2x
EV/EBIT -23.0x -9.3x
EV/Revenue 1.6x 1.0x
EV/FCF 22.5x -43.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.2x 18.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.11 0.16

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCEWLK
Revenue growth (1Y) -2.2% -4.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.9% -6.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -5.7% -17.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -3.3% -26.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.1% -1,286%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -39.7% -39.3%
Net income growth (1Y) 29.1% -3,089%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -42.8% -42.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 29.0% -1,740%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -42.8% -43.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -3.5% -34.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -16.2% -39.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 12.0% -390.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -13.2% -29.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCEWLK
Gross margin 20.9% 9.6%
EBITDA margin 1.7% -0.7%
Operating margin -7.1% -11.0%
Pretax margin -11.6% -11.4%
Net margin -12.0% -10.9%
FCF margin 7.3% -2.3%
Operating cash flow margin 10.1% 5.6%
Return on equity -25.4% -13.0%
Return on assets -5.3% -6.1%
Return on invested capital -4.1% -8.0%
Return on capital employed -3.9% -7.2%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.8x -0.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCEWLK
Debt / assets 56.1% 26.1%
Debt / equity 2.6x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 63.7x -42.9x
Debt / FCF 17.0x -19.1x
Liabilities / assets 78.6% 52.6%
Equity / assets 21.4% 47.4%
Interest coverage -1.0x -6.1x
Current ratio 1.4x 2.5x
Quick ratio 0.8x 1.7x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.8x
Altman Z-score 1.29 1.69

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCEWLK
Dividend yield 0.2% 3.2%
Net buyback yield – 0.8%
Shareholder yield 0.2% 4.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) -1.1% -22.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) 1.8% -103.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) -91.8% 1.1%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -65.0% 14.1%

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.

ConsensusCEWLK
Forward P/E 7.6xFY2026 33.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.33FY2026 $1.93FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +59.0%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after -0.2% +20.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $9.75BFY2026 $12.04BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.2%FY2026 +7.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.8% -3.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCEWLK
Held by institutions 100.0% 31.0%
Institutions holding 458 362
Change in shares held, QoQ +10.8% -9.9%
Institutions buying 246 199
Institutions selling 138 118
Buyers to sellers 1.78 1.69

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.

CEWLK
CE 1.00 0.61
WLK 0.61 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CE and WLK?

Westlake (WLK) is the largest by market capitalisation: Celanese (CE) $5.28B, Westlake (WLK) $8.35B.

Which company is growing faster?

Celanese (CE) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Celanese (CE) -2.2%, Westlake (WLK) -4.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Westlake (WLK) has the highest net margin (Celanese (CE) -12.0%, Westlake (WLK) -10.9%). On return on invested capital, Celanese (CE) leads (Celanese (CE) -4.1%, Westlake (WLK) -8.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Celanese (CE) returned the most: Celanese (CE) +14.0%, Westlake (WLK) -17.6%. Over five years, Westlake (WLK) compounded fastest (Celanese (CE) -21.7%/yr, Westlake (WLK) -7.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Westlake (WLK) has the highest dividend yield: Celanese (CE) 0.25%, Westlake (WLK) 3.25%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Westlake (WLK) has been the steadiest (Celanese (CE) 51.7%, Westlake (WLK) 43.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do CE and WLK move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.61, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, CE and WLK?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Westlake (WLK) leads on 7. 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.