Albemarle Corporation (ALB) vs Westlake Corporation (WLK)

Albemarle Corporation and Westlake Corporation are both Specialty Chemicals companies. Albemarle Corporation is the larger, with a market value of $12.9B against $8.5B — 1.5× the size. Westlake Corporation has negative trailing earnings, so its P/E is not meaningful; Albemarle Corporation trades at 229×. Albemarle Corporation grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 18.3% against −3.95%. Albemarle Corporation has the higher net margin (0.97% vs −10.9%) and the higher return on invested capital (1.46% vs −6.26%). Both pay a dividend; Albemarle Corporation yields more (1.41% vs 1.14%). Across the 20 metrics below, Albemarle Corporation leads on 16 and Westlake Corporation on 4.

Valuation

Metric ALB WLK Specialty Chemicals median
P/E 228.60 n/m 24.83
P/S 2.19 0.77 1.46
P/B 1.56 0.94 1.76
Price to free cash flow 9.58 n/m 19.84
EV/EBITDA 12.27 18.98 13.18
EV/Sales 2.23 1.10 1.84
Earnings yield 0.44% (14.15%) 2.11%
Free cash flow yield 10.44% (3.06%) 2.29%

Profitability

Metric ALB WLK Specialty Chemicals median
Gross margin 23.81% 9.62% 29.23%
Operating margin 4.27% (11.02%) 3.63%
Net margin 0.97% (10.86%) 2.89%
Free cash flow margin 22.87% (2.35%) 3.78%
Return on equity 0.69% (12.27%) 3.62%
Return on assets 0.35% (6.10%) 0.35%
Return on invested capital 1.46% (6.26%) 2.75%

Growth

Metric ALB WLK Specialty Chemicals median
Revenue growth (TTM) 18.32% (3.95%) 4.51%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 48.57% (352.16%) —
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 10.45% 8.28% 6.30%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%

Health

Metric ALB WLK Specialty Chemicals median
Debt to equity 0.18 0.55 0.54
Current ratio 2.09 2.45 1.94
Net debt to EBITDA 3.33 8.12 2.03

Dividend

Metric ALB WLK Specialty Chemicals median
Dividend yield 1.41% 1.14% 1.69%
Payout ratio 0.05 0.14 0.25

Size

Metric ALB WLK Specialty Chemicals median
Market cap 12.90b 8.53b 2.43b

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