CE vs ECVT vs WLK Stock Comparison

Celanese, Ecovyst and Westlake Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CE Celanese Corp
$48.10 +2.2% 1M +14.0% 1Y
Market cap
$5.37B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$9.71B
Div. yield
0.00%
Commodity Chemicals Basic Materials
1 win
ECVT Ecovyst Inc.
$9.84 -3.1% 1M +16.3% 1Y
Market cap
$1.08B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$869.26M
Div. yield
–
Commodity Chemicals Basic Materials
7 wins
WLK Westlake Corp
$65.31 -3.6% 1M -17.6% 1Y
Market cap
$8.41B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$11.29B
Div. yield
0.03%
Commodity Chemicals Basic Materials
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Ecovyst leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Ecovyst 7, Westlake 3, Celanese 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCEECVTWLKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.37B $1.08B $8.41B WLK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -4.6x -17.6x -6.8x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 7.6x 14.7x 33.8x CE
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -2.2% +39.8% -4.0% ECVT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -12.0% -7.1% -10.9% ECVT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -4.1% 3.8% -8.0% ECVT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 63.7x 2.5x -42.9x WLK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.03% WLK
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +14.0% +16.3% -17.6% ECVT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -21.7%/yr -2.7%/yr -7.4%/yr ECVT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 51.7% 32.5% 43.5% ECVT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 29/100 59/100 41/100 ECVT

Percentile Scorecard

CEECVTWLK

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

AxisCEECVTWLK
Valuation 58 #40 of 94 73 #26 of 94 46 #51 of 94
Growth 23 #71 of 92 33 #62 of 92 1 #91 of 92
Profitability 32 #61 of 89 52 #43 of 89 23 #69 of 89
Financial Health 13 #85 of 97 43 #56 of 97 53 #46 of 97
Shareholder Returns 22 #55 of 70 93 #6 of 70 84 #12 of 70
Overall 29 59 41
  • CE ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • ECVT ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • WLK ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCEECVTWLKSPY
1 month +2.2%-3.1%-3.6% -0.8%
3 months +8.4%-19.7%-9.7% +3.5%
6 months -26.1%-30.5%-41.3% +7.0%
Year to date +13.8%+1.1%-11.7% +12.2%
1 year +14.0%+16.3%-17.6% +13.0%
3 years -57.6%+8.3%-43.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year -24.9%+2.7%-17.1% +23.1%
5 years -70.6%-12.9%-31.8% +68.6%
5 years, per year -21.7%-2.7%-7.4% +11.0%
10 years -32.4%—+27.4% +258.0%
10 years, per year -3.8%—+2.5% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCEECVTWLKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 51.7%32.5%43.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 47.1%33.1%38.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.400.710.46 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.270.50-0.40 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -79.6%-59.6%-65.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -30.5%-34.3%-47.1% -1.8%
52-week high $69.24$14.97$123.39 $779.14
52-week low $35.53$7.84$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.

MultipleCEECVTWLK
P/E now vs peer median -4.5xmedian 21.6x -17.6xmedian 21.6x -6.8xmedian 21.6x
P/S now vs peer median 0.5xmedian 1.4x 1.2xmedian 1.4x 0.7xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 95.3xmedian 12.4x 9.0xmedian 12.4x -154.2xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 7.5xmedian 15.8x 14.2xmedian 15.8x -31.5xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 1.6x 1.8xmedian 1.6x 0.9xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.11median 1.66 0.41median 1.66 0.16median 1.66

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 monthsCEECVTWLK
Revenue $9.71B $869.26M $11.29B
Gross profit $2.03B $185.09M $1.09B
Operating income -$692.00M $81.98M -$1.25B
Net income -$1.16B -$61.34M -$1.21B
Free cash flow $708.00M $76.10M -$265.00M
R&D $120.00M – –
EPS (diluted) $-10.60 $-0.55 $-9.61
Cash & equivalents $1.36B $87.76M $1.64B
Total debt $12.01B $492.95M $5.07B
Shares (diluted) 110.25M 110.84M 128.50M
Enterprise value -$455.85M $550.86M -$967.50M

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
MetricCEECVTWLK
P/E -4.5x -17.6x -6.8x
P/FCF 7.5x 14.2x -31.5x
P/Operating cash flow 5.4x 7.1x 13.2x
P/S 0.5x 1.2x 0.7x
P/B 1.2x 1.8x 0.9x
P/Tangible book 3.5x 2.4x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA 95.3x 9.0x -154.2x
EV/EBIT -23.0x 18.1x -9.3x
EV/Revenue 1.6x 1.7x 1.0x
EV/FCF 22.5x 19.5x -43.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.2x 9.7x 18.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.11 0.41 0.16

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCEECVTWLK
Revenue growth (1Y) -2.2% 39.8% -4.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.9% 4.6% -6.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -5.7% 25.6% -17.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -3.3% -4.8% -26.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.1% 26.5% -1,286%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -39.7% -7.2% -39.3%
Net income growth (1Y) 29.1% -345.1% -3,089%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -42.8% -42.0% -42.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 29.0% -368.0% -1,740%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -42.8% -43.1% -43.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -3.5% 3.7% -34.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -16.2% -4.5% -39.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 12.0% -14.2% -390.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -13.2% -9.5% -29.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCEECVTWLK
Gross margin 20.9% 21.3% 9.6%
EBITDA margin 1.7% 18.9% -0.7%
Operating margin -7.1% 9.4% -11.0%
Pretax margin -11.6% 6.1% -11.4%
Net margin -12.0% -7.1% -10.9%
FCF margin 7.3% 8.8% -2.3%
Operating cash flow margin 10.1% 17.5% 5.6%
Return on equity -25.4% -10.6% -13.0%
Return on assets -5.3% -4.6% -6.1%
Return on invested capital -4.1% 3.8% -8.0%
Return on capital employed -3.9% 6.9% -7.2%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.7x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.8x -2.5x -0.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 1.2% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCEECVTWLK
Debt / assets 56.1% 34.7% 26.1%
Debt / equity 2.6x 0.8x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 63.7x 2.5x -42.9x
Debt / FCF 17.0x 6.5x -19.1x
Liabilities / assets 78.6% 58.7% 52.6%
Equity / assets 21.4% 41.3% 47.4%
Interest coverage -1.0x 3.4x -6.1x
Current ratio 1.4x 1.7x 2.5x
Quick ratio 0.8x 1.3x 1.7x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.6x 0.8x
Altman Z-score 1.29 1.44 1.69

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCEECVTWLK
Dividend yield 0.2% – 3.2%
Net buyback yield – 5.7% 0.8%
Shareholder yield 0.2% 5.7% 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.

ConsensusCEECVTWLK
Forward P/E 7.6xFY2026 14.7xFY2026 33.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.33FY2026 $0.67FY2026 $1.93FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +59.0%FY2026 +71.8%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after -0.2% +25.4% +20.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $9.75BFY2026 $1.09BFY2026 $12.04BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.2%FY2026 +50.1%FY2026 +7.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.8% -8.4% -3.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCEECVTWLK
Held by institutions 100.0% 99.9% 31.0%
Institutions holding 458 209 362
Change in shares held, QoQ +10.8% -2.2% -9.9%
Institutions buying 246 127 199
Institutions selling 138 54 118
Buyers to sellers 1.78 2.35 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.

CEECVTWLK
CE 1.00 0.42 0.61
ECVT 0.42 1.00 0.33
WLK 0.61 0.33 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CE, ECVT and WLK?

Westlake (WLK) is the largest by market capitalisation: Celanese (CE) $5.37B, Ecovyst (ECVT) $1.08B, Westlake (WLK) $8.41B.

Which company is growing faster?

Ecovyst (ECVT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Celanese (CE) -2.2%, Ecovyst (ECVT) +39.8%, Westlake (WLK) -4.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ecovyst (ECVT) has the highest net margin (Celanese (CE) -12.0%, Ecovyst (ECVT) -7.1%, Westlake (WLK) -10.9%). On return on invested capital, Ecovyst (ECVT) leads (Celanese (CE) -4.1%, Ecovyst (ECVT) 3.8%, Westlake (WLK) -8.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ecovyst (ECVT) returned the most: Celanese (CE) +14.0%, Ecovyst (ECVT) +16.3%, Westlake (WLK) -17.6%. Over five years, Ecovyst (ECVT) compounded fastest (Celanese (CE) -21.7%/yr, Ecovyst (ECVT) -2.7%/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) 0.00%, Ecovyst (ECVT) 0.00%, Westlake (WLK) 0.03%. Ecovyst (ECVT) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecovyst (ECVT) has been the steadiest (Celanese (CE) 51.7%, Ecovyst (ECVT) 32.5%, Westlake (WLK) 43.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CE, ECVT 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, Ecovyst (ECVT) 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.