Is the business good?
How good a business is WLK?
Westlake Corporation earns −12% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so growth costs more than it returns.
−12%
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 21 points below what the capital costs: growth destroys value
- Operating margin
- −16%
Operating margin · Specialty Chemicals median 9.1% · 12 months to Q1 2026
- Share count, year on year
- −0.25%
Share count, year on year · flat: no meaningful dilution
- Gross margin
- 6.3%
Gross margin
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2020 | 5.7% |
| FY2021 | 24% |
| FY2022 | 19% |
| FY2023 | 5.8% |
| FY2024 | 7.2% |
| FY2025 | −14% |
Details›
- Gross margin12 months to Q1 2026
- 6.3%
- Operating margin12 months to Q1 2026
- −16%
- Net margin12 months to Q1 2026
- −15%
- Free cash flow margin
- −4.6%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $11.0B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- −$508M
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- −$1.64B
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- −12%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion from the cash flow statement.