Celanese vs Westlake
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The short version
- Westlake is the larger business, with $11.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $9.5B for Celanese.
- Celanese grew revenue faster (−7.1%, against −8.0%).
- Celanese kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (−8.2% operating margin, against −14.1%).
- Celanese turned more of its sales into free cash flow (8.4% FCF margin, against −4.7%).
- Celanese earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (−3.7%, against −10.0%).
| Latest fiscal year | CE · FY25 | WLK · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $5.3B | $8.3B |
| Revenue | $9.5B | $11.2B |
| Free cash flow | $803M | −$530M |
| Net income | −$1.2B | −$1.5B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −7.1% | −8.0% |
| 5-year growth | 11.0% | 8.3% |
| Share count change | 0.2% | −0.7% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 20.5% | 7.3% |
| Operating margin | −8.2% | −14.1% |
| Net margin | −12.2% | −13.5% |
| FCF margin | 8.4% | −4.7% |
| Return on capital | −3.7% | −10.0% |
| Return on equity | −25.4% | −15.6% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $11.5B | $2.9B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | — | — |
| Dividends and buybacks | $13.0M | $335M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 3 |
Revenue
FY16
CE $5.4B
WLK $5.1B
FY17
CE $6.1B
WLK $8.0B
FY18
CE $7.2B
WLK $8.6B
FY19
CE $6.3B
WLK $8.1B
FY20
CE $5.7B
WLK $7.5B
FY21
CE $8.5B
WLK $11.8B
FY22
CE $9.7B
WLK $15.8B
FY23
CE $10.9B
WLK $12.5B
FY24
CE $10.3B
WLK $12.1B
FY25
CE $9.5B
WLK $11.2B
CE
WLK
Operating margin
FY16
CE 17.3%
WLK 11.5%
FY17
CE 14.0%
WLK 15.2%
FY18
CE 18.6%
WLK 16.3%
FY19
CE 13.2%
WLK 8.1%
FY20
CE 11.7%
WLK 5.7%
FY21
CE 22.8%
WLK 23.8%
FY22
CE 14.3%
WLK 19.3%
FY23
CE 15.2%
WLK 5.8%
FY24
CE −7.0%
WLK 7.2%
FY25
CE −8.2%
WLK −14.1%
CE
WLK
Free cash flow
FY16
CE $647M
WLK $238M
FY17
CE $536M
WLK $951M
FY18
CE $1.2B
WLK $707M
FY19
CE $1.1B
WLK $514M
FY20
CE $979M
WLK $772M
FY21
CE $1.3B
WLK $1.7B
FY22
CE $1.3B
WLK $2.3B
FY23
CE $1.3B
WLK $1.3B
FY24
CE $531M
WLK $306M
FY25
CE $803M
WLK −$530M
CE
WLK
Return on capital
FY16
CE 16.8%
WLK 8.4%
FY17
CE 11.9%
WLK 16.4%
FY18
CE 17.0%
WLK 13.9%
FY19
CE 11.6%
WLK 6.2%
FY20
CE 9.5%
WLK 4.8%
FY21
CE 23.2%
WLK 21.0%
FY22
CE 10.1%
WLK 19.1%
FY23
CE 8.6%
WLK 4.3%
FY24
CE −3.1%
WLK 4.8%
FY25
CE −3.7%
WLK −10.0%
CE
WLK
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.