KRO vs LYB vs CE Stock Comparison

Kronos Worldwide, LyondellBasell Industries and Celanese Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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KRO Kronos Worldwide Inc
$7.82 -7.3% 1M +61.9% 1Y
Market cap
$878.21M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$1.94B
Div. yield
0.03%
Commodity Chemicals Basic Materials
3 wins
CE Celanese Corp
$47.76 -1.6% 1M +12.8% 1Y
Market cap
$5.30B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$9.71B
Div. yield
0.00%
Commodity Chemicals Basic Materials

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

LyondellBasell Industries leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (LyondellBasell Industries 8, Kronos Worldwide 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionKROLYBCELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $878.21M $43.49B $5.30B LYB
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -8.0x -123.2x -4.5x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.6x 7.1x 7.6x LYB
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +2.7% -1.7% -2.2% KRO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -5.6% -1.1% -12.0% LYB
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -2.4% 4.1% -4.1% LYB
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 17.7x 4.3x 63.7x LYB
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.03% 0.03% 0.00% LYB
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +61.9% +42.0% +12.8% KRO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -9.9%/yr -7.4%/yr -22.3%/yr LYB
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 59.0% 42.8% 51.8% LYB
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 41/100 39/100 30/100 KRO

Percentile Scorecard

KROLYBCE

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

AxisKROLYBCE
Valuation 69 #30 of 94 40 #57 of 94 59 #39 of 94
Growth 37 #58 of 92 24 #70 of 92 23 #71 of 92
Profitability 28 #64 of 89 53 #42 of 89 32 #61 of 89
Financial Health 38 #61 of 97 31 #67 of 97 13 #85 of 97
Shareholder Returns 35 #46 of 70 45 #39 of 70 22 #55 of 70
Overall 41 39 30
  • KRO ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • LYB ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • CE ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodKROLYBCESPY
1 month -7.3%+10.8%-1.6% -1.0%
3 months +18.3%+10.1%+2.9% +2.9%
6 months +9.8%-4.9%-26.5% +6.4%
Year to date +76.9%+53.5%+13.0% +11.4%
1 year +61.9%+42.0%+12.8% +13.1%
3 years +16.0%-27.6%-58.9% +79.4%
3 years, per year +5.1%-10.2%-25.7% +21.5%
5 years -40.6%-31.8%-71.7% +67.7%
5 years, per year -9.9%-7.4%-22.3% +10.9%
10 years -1.9%-18.8%-32.4% +255.2%
10 years, per year -0.2%-2.1%-3.8% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureKROLYBCESPY
Volatility, 1Y 59.0%42.8%51.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 47.7%40.8%46.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.27-0.560.42 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.050.980.25 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -77.9%-63.9%-79.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -12.2%-19.3%-31.0% -2.5%
52-week high $8.91$82.38$69.24 $779.14
52-week low $4.33$42.28$35.53 $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.

MultipleKROLYBCE
P/E now vs peer median -8.2xmedian 21.5x -121.6xmedian 21.5x -4.5xmedian 21.5x
P/S now vs peer median 0.5xmedian 1.4x 1.4xmedian 1.4x 0.5xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 47.2xmedian 12.4x 22.2xmedian 12.4x 95.1xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 13.5xmedian 15.5x 27.2xmedian 15.5x 7.4xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 1.6x 4.0xmedian 1.6x 1.1xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.19median 1.70 4.13median 1.70 0.10median 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 monthsKROLYBCE
Revenue $1.94B $31.19B $9.71B
Gross profit $229.50M $3.98B $2.03B
Operating income -$32.10M $963.00M -$692.00M
Net income -$109.40M -$346.00M -$1.16B
Free cash flow $66.50M $1.58B $708.00M
R&D – $137.00M $120.00M
EPS (diluted) $-0.95 $-0.55 $-10.60
Cash & equivalents $26.60M $2.63B $1.36B
Total debt $2.36B $12.91B $12.01B
Shares (diluted) 115.10M 646.00M 110.25M
Enterprise value $765.01M $33.00B -$527.21M

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
MetricKROLYBCE
P/E -8.2x -121.6x -4.5x
P/FCF 13.5x 27.2x 7.4x
P/Operating cash flow 10.4x 14.4x 5.3x
P/S 0.5x 1.4x 0.5x
P/B 1.2x 4.0x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 1.2x 4.2x 3.5x
EV/EBITDA 47.2x 22.2x 95.1x
EV/EBIT -45.0x 55.3x -23.0x
EV/Revenue 0.7x 1.7x 1.6x
EV/FCF 21.7x 33.7x 22.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.7x 17.9x 16.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.19 4.13 0.10

Growth

14 metrics
MetricKROLYBCE
Revenue growth (1Y) 2.7% -1.7% -2.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.1% -10.2% -1.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -35.8% 15.6% -5.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.4% -6.3% -3.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) -128.3% 44.4% 11.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -32.2% -31.7% -39.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -262.1% -232.1% 29.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -69.9% -29.3% -42.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -261.9% -238.0% 29.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -43.1% -29.4% -42.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 2,202% 26.1% -3.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 58.1% -14.7% -16.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 236.6% 240.8% 12.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 37.5% -21.2% -13.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricKROLYBCE
Gross margin 11.8% 12.8% 20.9%
EBITDA margin 1.6% 7.7% 1.7%
Operating margin -1.7% 3.1% -7.1%
Pretax margin -5.0% -0.2% -11.6%
Net margin -5.6% -1.1% -12.0%
FCF margin 3.4% 5.1% 7.3%
Operating cash flow margin 4.4% 9.5% 10.1%
Return on equity -14.6% -3.3% -25.4%
Return on assets -6.2% -1.0% -5.3%
Return on invested capital -2.4% 4.1% -4.1%
Return on capital employed -2.2% 3.6% -3.9%
Asset turnover 1.1x 0.9x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.8x -8.6x -0.8x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.3% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricKROLYBCE
Debt / assets 32.7% 37.4% 56.1%
Debt / equity 0.8x 1.2x 2.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 17.7x 4.3x 63.7x
Debt / FCF 8.6x 8.2x 17.0x
Liabilities / assets 56.9% 69.0% 78.6%
Equity / assets 43.1% 31.0% 21.4%
Interest coverage -0.6x 1.8x -1.0x
Current ratio 3.3x 1.6x 1.4x
Quick ratio 1.5x 0.9x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.4x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 1.77 2.52 1.29

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricKROLYBCE
Dividend yield 2.6% 5.2% 0.3%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 2.6% 5.2% 0.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) -21.0% -385.5% -1.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) 34.6% 84.5% 1.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) 0.0% -23.9% -91.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -36.0% -5.5% -65.0%

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.

ConsensusKROLYBCE
Forward P/E 20.6xFY2026 7.1xFY2026 7.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.38FY2026 $9.38FY2026 $6.29FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +451.8%FY2026 +58.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +63.2% -30.4% +0.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.13BFY2026 $32.40BFY2026 $9.74BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.3%FY2026 +7.5%FY2026 +2.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.3% +0.6% +7.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersKROLYBCE
Held by institutions 16.0% 37.4% 100.0%
Institutions holding 130 878 458
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.6% -1.9% +10.8%
Institutions buying 74 469 246
Institutions selling 34 297 138
Buyers to sellers 2.18 1.58 1.78

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.

KROLYBCE
KRO 1.00 0.29 0.38
LYB 0.29 1.00 0.65
CE 0.38 0.65 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, KRO, LYB and CE?

LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) is the largest by market capitalisation: Kronos Worldwide (KRO) $878.21M, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) $43.49B, Celanese (CE) $5.30B.

Which company is growing faster?

Kronos Worldwide (KRO) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Kronos Worldwide (KRO) +2.7%, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) -1.7%, Celanese (CE) -2.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) has the highest net margin (Kronos Worldwide (KRO) -5.6%, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) -1.1%, Celanese (CE) -12.0%). On return on invested capital, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) leads (Kronos Worldwide (KRO) -2.4%, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) 4.1%, Celanese (CE) -4.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Kronos Worldwide (KRO) returned the most: Kronos Worldwide (KRO) +61.9%, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) +42.0%, Celanese (CE) +12.8%. Over five years, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) compounded fastest (Kronos Worldwide (KRO) -9.9%/yr, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) -7.4%/yr, Celanese (CE) -22.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) has the highest dividend yield: Kronos Worldwide (KRO) 0.03%, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) 0.03%, Celanese (CE) 0.00%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) has been the steadiest (Kronos Worldwide (KRO) 59.0%, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) 42.8%, Celanese (CE) 51.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, KRO, LYB and CE?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) leads on 8. 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.