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If You Invested $1000 in Westlake Chemical a Decade Ago, This is How Much It'd Be Worth Now
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How much a stock's price changes over time is important for most investors, since price performance can both impact your investment portfolio and help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.
Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you'd invested in Westlake Chemical (WLK - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to WLK for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
Westlake Chemical's Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let's take a look at Westlake Chemical's main business drivers.
Houston, TX-based Westlake Chemical Corporation is a vertically integrated international producer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products. The company's range of products includes ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, vinyl intermediates, PVC, PVC Pipe, PVC windows, fence and decking components. The company utilizes most of its internally-produced basic chemicals to make higher value-added chemicals and building products.
The company’s products are used across a range of consumer and industrial markets, including flexible and rigid packaging, automotive products, coatings, water treatment, refrigerants, residential and commercial construction. The company generated revenues of $7,504 million in 2020.
Westlake Chemical operates through two segments – Vinyls and Olefins.
Vinyls: The segment’s key products include PVC, chlor-alkali (chlorine and caustic soda) and chlorinated derivative products and ethylene. The company also makes building products fabricated from PVC, including siding, pipe, fittings, fence and decking products, window and door components and film and sheet products. The segment accounted for 80% of total revenues in 2020.
Olefins: The segment offers ethylene, polyethylene, styrene and associated co-products. The company has two ethylene plants, owned by OpCo, two polyethylene plants and one styrene monomer plant at its olefins facility at the Lake Charles site. The segment accounted for 20% of total revenues in 2020.
Westlake Chemical, in September 2016, concluded the acquisition of chemicals and building products maker, Axiall Corporation in an all-cash deal. The transaction represents an enterprise value of $3.8 billion.
Westlake Chemical, in January 2019, also acquired global compounding solutions business, NAKAN. NAKAN’s product portfolio is used in a wide-array of applications in the building & construction, automotive and medical industries. The combination is a strategic move that complements the company's existing compounding business. Through this move, Westlake Chemical’s compounding business now has facilities in the United States, Italy, France, Germany, China, Mexico, Japan, Spain and Vietnam.
Bottom Line
Putting together a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of research, patience, and a little bit of risk. For Westlake Chemical, if you bought shares a decade ago, you're likely feeling really good about your investment today.
According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in May 2011 would be worth $3,672.12, or a gain of 267.21%, as of May 21, 2021, and this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.
The S&P 500 rose 211.95% and the price of gold increased 19.30% over the same time frame in comparison.
Looking ahead, analysts are expecting more upside for WLK.
Westlake Chemical’s earnings and sales for the first quarter beat the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company is benefiting from synergies of the Axiall acquisition. The buyout has diversified its product portfolio and geographical operations. Further, the company is seeing favorable demand trends for polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin. Strong demand in the polyethylene business is likely to continue, especially in food packaging. Also, rising housing starts in the United States augur well for its downstream vinyl products business and domestic demand for PVC. The company should also benefit from its capacity expansion projects. However, it faces headwinds from higher feedstock costs. Its operations are also exposed to maintenance outages. The Olefins unit also faces headwinds from new capacity additions.
The stock has jumped 8.20% over the past four weeks. Additionally, no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 4 higher, for fiscal 2021; the consensus estimate has moved up as well.
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If You Invested $1000 in Westlake Chemical a Decade Ago, This is How Much It'd Be Worth Now
How much a stock's price changes over time is important for most investors, since price performance can both impact your investment portfolio and help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.
Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you'd invested in Westlake Chemical (WLK - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to WLK for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
Westlake Chemical's Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let's take a look at Westlake Chemical's main business drivers.
Houston, TX-based Westlake Chemical Corporation is a vertically integrated international producer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products. The company's range of products includes ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, vinyl intermediates, PVC, PVC Pipe, PVC windows, fence and decking components. The company utilizes most of its internally-produced basic chemicals to make higher value-added chemicals and building products.
The company’s products are used across a range of consumer and industrial markets, including flexible and rigid packaging, automotive products, coatings, water treatment, refrigerants, residential and commercial construction. The company generated revenues of $7,504 million in 2020.
Westlake Chemical operates through two segments – Vinyls and Olefins.
Vinyls: The segment’s key products include PVC, chlor-alkali (chlorine and caustic soda) and chlorinated derivative products and ethylene. The company also makes building products fabricated from PVC, including siding, pipe, fittings, fence and decking products, window and door components and film and sheet products. The segment accounted for 80% of total revenues in 2020.
Olefins: The segment offers ethylene, polyethylene, styrene and associated co-products. The company has two ethylene plants, owned by OpCo, two polyethylene plants and one styrene monomer plant at its olefins facility at the Lake Charles site. The segment accounted for 20% of total revenues in 2020.
Westlake Chemical, in September 2016, concluded the acquisition of chemicals and building products maker, Axiall Corporation in an all-cash deal. The transaction represents an enterprise value of $3.8 billion.
Westlake Chemical, in January 2019, also acquired global compounding solutions business, NAKAN. NAKAN’s product portfolio is used in a wide-array of applications in the building & construction, automotive and medical industries. The combination is a strategic move that complements the company's existing compounding business. Through this move, Westlake Chemical’s compounding business now has facilities in the United States, Italy, France, Germany, China, Mexico, Japan, Spain and Vietnam.
Bottom Line
Putting together a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of research, patience, and a little bit of risk. For Westlake Chemical, if you bought shares a decade ago, you're likely feeling really good about your investment today.
According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in May 2011 would be worth $3,672.12, or a gain of 267.21%, as of May 21, 2021, and this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.
The S&P 500 rose 211.95% and the price of gold increased 19.30% over the same time frame in comparison.
Looking ahead, analysts are expecting more upside for WLK.
Westlake Chemical’s earnings and sales for the first quarter beat the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company is benefiting from synergies of the Axiall acquisition. The buyout has diversified its product portfolio and geographical operations. Further, the company is seeing favorable demand trends for polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin. Strong demand in the polyethylene business is likely to continue, especially in food packaging. Also, rising housing starts in the United States augur well for its downstream vinyl products business and domestic demand for PVC. The company should also benefit from its capacity expansion projects. However, it faces headwinds from higher feedstock costs. Its operations are also exposed to maintenance outages. The Olefins unit also faces headwinds from new capacity additions.
The stock has jumped 8.20% over the past four weeks. Additionally, no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 4 higher, for fiscal 2021; the consensus estimate has moved up as well.