WLK vs SHEL vs LYB Stock Comparison

Westlake, Shell and LyondellBasell Industries Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
WLK Westlake Corp
$66.18 -2.3% 1M -17.0% 1Y
Market cap
$8.40B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$11.29B
Div. yield
0.03%
Commodity Chemicals Basic Materials
2 wins
SHEL Shell plc
$104.78 +9.4% 1M +38.8% 1Y
Market cap
$310.36B
P/E
12.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$169.08B
Div. yield
0.03%
Integrated Oil and Gas Energy
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Shell leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Shell 7, LyondellBasell Industries 2, Westlake 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionWLKSHELLYBLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.40B $310.36B $43.40B SHEL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -6.8x 12.8x -122.9x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 38.9x 8.7x 7.2x LYB
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -4.0% -15.6% -1.7% LYB
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -10.9% 14.4% -1.1% SHEL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -8.0% 13.1% 4.1% SHEL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -42.9x 0.4x 4.3x WLK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.03% 0.03% 0.03% WLK
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -17.0% +38.8% +37.4% SHEL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -7.5%/yr +17.2%/yr -6.9%/yr SHEL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 43.4% 22.8% 42.7% SHEL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 42/100 64/100 40/100 SHEL

Percentile Scorecard

WLKSHELLYB

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

AxisWLKSHELLYB
Valuation 46 #51 of 94 54 #46 of 99 41 #56 of 94
Growth 1 #90 of 91 73 #27 of 97 24 #69 of 91
Profitability 24 #66 of 86 66 #33 of 96 55 #39 of 86
Financial Health 54 #44 of 95 62 #39 of 102 32 #65 of 95
Shareholder Returns 84 #12 of 70 63 #29 of 76 46 #38 of 70
Overall 42 64 40
  • WLK ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • SHEL ranked among 103 companies in Oil and Gas Upstream
  • LYB ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodWLKSHELLYBSPY
1 month -2.3%+9.4%+16.0% -0.2%
3 months -8.3%+21.5%+15.8% +3.9%
6 months -40.0%+19.6%-5.7% +8.2%
Year to date -10.5%+42.6%+55.7% +12.9%
1 year -17.0%+38.8%+37.4% +12.3%
3 years -42.2%+57.9%-25.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year -16.7%+16.5%-9.3% +23.3%
5 years -32.2%+120.9%-30.0% +67.9%
5 years, per year -7.5%+17.2%-6.9% +10.9%
10 years +29.2%+107.4%-16.0% +261.1%
10 years, per year +2.6%+7.6%-1.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureWLKSHELLYBSPY
Volatility, 1Y 43.4%22.8%42.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 38.5%23.2%40.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.46-0.16-0.59 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.391.700.87 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -65.2%-25.0%-63.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -46.4%-3.1%-18.1% -1.2%
52-week high $123.39$108.17$82.38 $779.14
52-week low $56.38$70.31$42.28 $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.

MultipleWLKSHELLYB
P/E now vs peer median -6.9xmedian 22.0x 12.7xmedian 13.0x -123.4xmedian 22.0x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 1.4x 1.8xmedian 2.1x 1.4xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -155.6xmedian 12.4x 4.3xmedian 5.9x 22.4xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median -31.9xmedian 15.1x -3.2xmedian 11.1x 27.6xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 1.6x 1.6xmedian 1.5x 4.1xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.16median 1.66 0.91median 2.27 4.19median 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 monthsWLKSHELLYB
Revenue $11.29B $169.08B $31.19B
Gross profit $1.09B $99.74B $3.98B
Operating income -$1.25B $65.44B $963.00M
Net income -$1.21B $17.88B -$346.00M
Free cash flow -$265.00M -$92.27B $1.58B
R&D – $1.14B $137.00M
EPS (diluted) $-9.61 $8.18 $-0.55
Cash & equivalents $1.64B $31.37B $2.63B
Total debt $5.07B $73.08B $12.91B
Shares (diluted) 128.50M 2.97B 646.00M
Enterprise value -$976.46M $240.10B $32.91B

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
MetricWLKSHELLYB
P/E -6.9x 12.7x -123.4x
P/FCF -31.9x -3.2x 27.6x
P/Operating cash flow 13.4x 6.1x 14.7x
P/S 0.7x 1.8x 1.4x
P/B 0.9x 1.6x 4.1x
P/Tangible book 1.0x 1.8x 4.2x
EV/EBITDA -155.6x 4.3x 22.4x
EV/EBIT -9.4x 6.3x 55.9x
EV/Revenue 1.0x 2.0x 1.7x
EV/FCF -44.0x -3.6x 34.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.5x 6.7x 18.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.16 0.91 4.19

Growth

14 metrics
MetricWLKSHELLYB
Revenue growth (1Y) -4.0% -15.6% -1.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -6.6% 2.2% -10.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -17.5% 4.6% 15.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -26.8% -4.5% -6.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) -1,286% 223.8% 44.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -39.3% 39.3% -31.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -3,089% 98.6% -232.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -42.3% 111.8% -29.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -1,740% 42.2% -238.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -43.1% 13.9% -29.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -34.7% 0.2% 26.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -39.5% -6.7% -14.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -390.7% -27.1% 240.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -29.1% 17.1% -21.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricWLKSHELLYB
Gross margin 9.6% 59.0% 12.8%
EBITDA margin -0.7% 45.9% 7.7%
Operating margin -11.0% 38.7% 3.1%
Pretax margin -11.4% 23.6% -0.2%
Net margin -10.9% 14.4% -1.1%
FCF margin -2.3% -54.6% 5.1%
Operating cash flow margin 5.6% 29.1% 9.5%
Return on equity -13.0% 10.1% -3.3%
Return on assets -6.1% 4.7% -1.0%
Return on invested capital -8.0% 13.1% 4.1%
Return on capital employed -7.2% 17.8% 3.6%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.4x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.5x 2.7x -8.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% – 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricWLKSHELLYB
Debt / assets 26.1% 19.2% 37.4%
Debt / equity 0.6x 0.4x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA -42.9x 0.4x 4.3x
Debt / FCF -19.1x -0.8x 8.2x
Liabilities / assets 52.6% 52.5% 69.0%
Equity / assets 47.4% 47.5% 31.0%
Interest coverage -6.1x 11.0x 1.8x
Current ratio 2.5x 1.4x 1.6x
Quick ratio 1.7x 1.1x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.8x 0.5x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 1.70 – 2.54

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricWLKSHELLYB
Dividend yield 3.2% 2.9% 5.1%
Net buyback yield 0.7% 6.5% –
Shareholder yield 3.9% 9.4% 5.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) -22.5% 47.9% -385.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) -103.0% -9.3% 84.5%
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.1% -1.4% -23.9%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 14.1% 3.1% -5.5%

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.

ConsensusWLKSHELLYB
Forward P/E 38.9xFY2026 8.7xFY2026 7.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.70FY2026 $12.02FY2026 $9.42FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +90.8%FY2026 +454.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +25.9% -7.5% -30.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $12.04BFY2026 $339.70BFY2026 $32.43BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.8%FY2026 +27.3%FY2026 +7.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.9% -0.1% +0.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersWLKSHELLYB
Held by institutions 31.0% 13.0% 37.4%
Institutions holding 362 1,522 878
Change in shares held, QoQ -9.9% +0.0% -1.9%
Institutions buying 199 679 469
Institutions selling 118 535 297
Buyers to sellers 1.69 1.27 1.58

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.

WLKSHELLYB
WLK 1.00 0.30 0.58
SHEL 0.30 1.00 0.47
LYB 0.58 0.47 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, WLK, SHEL and LYB?

Shell (SHEL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Westlake (WLK) $8.40B, Shell (SHEL) $310.36B, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) $43.40B.

Which company is growing faster?

LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Westlake (WLK) -4.0%, Shell (SHEL) -15.6%, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) -1.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Shell (SHEL) has the highest net margin (Westlake (WLK) -10.9%, Shell (SHEL) 14.4%, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) -1.1%). On return on invested capital, Shell (SHEL) leads (Westlake (WLK) -8.0%, Shell (SHEL) 13.1%, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) 4.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Shell (SHEL) returned the most: Westlake (WLK) -17.0%, Shell (SHEL) +38.8%, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) +37.4%. Over five years, Shell (SHEL) compounded fastest (Westlake (WLK) -7.5%/yr, Shell (SHEL) +17.2%/yr, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) -6.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Westlake (WLK) has the highest dividend yield: Westlake (WLK) 0.03%, Shell (SHEL) 0.03%, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) 0.03%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Shell (SHEL) has been the steadiest (Westlake (WLK) 43.4%, Shell (SHEL) 22.8%, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) 42.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, WLK, SHEL and LYB?

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