Westlake Chemical (WLK) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Westlake Chemical (WLK) closed at $97.87, marking a -1.08% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.07%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.27%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.02%.
Coming into today, shares of the chemical company had lost 25.11% in the past month. In that same time, the Basic Materials sector lost 15.74%, while the S&P 500 lost 7.99%.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Westlake Chemical as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect Westlake Chemical to post earnings of $6.53 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 61.63%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $4.17 billion, up 46.01% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $22.44 per share and revenue of $15.33 billion, which would represent changes of +44.03% and +30.2%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Westlake Chemical. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.98% higher within the past month. Westlake Chemical is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.
Investors should also note Westlake Chemical's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 4.41. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 6.29, which means Westlake Chemical is trading at a discount to the group.
Meanwhile, WLK's PEG ratio is currently 0.14. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Chemical - Plastic stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.16 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Chemical - Plastic industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 242, putting it in the bottom 5% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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