News · Westlake Corporation (WLK) · Basic Materials

Westlake falls 3.0% in an ordinary session as volume runs above its 20-day average

Session of October 21, 2026 · Published October 22, 2026 · 4 min read

What happened

Westlake (WLK) fell 3.0% on October 21, 2026, in an ordinary session as trading ran 1.2 times its 20-day average while the S&P 500 rose 0.6%. The stock opened 0.3% above the previous close and ended the day 1.1 times a typical daily move for this stock. The Basic Materials sector median rose 0.1% on the day, leaving the stock 3.1 percentage points worse than the sector median.

Closing price over the last 30 trading sessions. On October 21, 2026, WLK closed at $60.84, down 3.0% on the day and 15.1% lower than 30 sessions earlier.

How big was the move

The decline matched the computed assessment that this was an ordinary session for the stock. Volume ran 1.2 times its 20-day average, suggesting modestly higher attention than usual without an extreme market reaction. The stock’s market sensitivity is a beta of 0.75, indicating the stock tends to move less than the market, and the stock fell 2.2% over the last five sessions while the S&P 500 rose 0.5% in the same span.

Each bar is one day's price change; the outlined bar is October 21, 2026. A typical daily move over the past year was 2.7%, so the latest move equals 1.1 times that. Moves outside the dashed lines (about 5.5%) are unusual.

The technical picture

The technical backdrop is weak across multiple horizons. The stock is 3.9% below its 20-day moving average and 12.9% below its 50-day moving average, while it sits 30.5% below its 200-day moving average. The 50-day average is below the 200-day average, a sign of a weak longer-term trend, and the stock is 51.0% below its 52-week high. Momentum readings are in a neutral range: the Relative Strength Index (14 days) is 33 (between 30 and 70, a neutral range). Volatility is elevated relative to history, at 41% annualized over 60 days, higher than 70% of its own readings over five years.

Closing price over the past year. WLK ends the period 50.7% below its 52-week high, below its 50-day average ($69.83) and below its 200-day average ($87.52).

Over shorter horizons the stock has underperformed materially. It fell 11.6% over one month, 19.1% over three months and 19.3% over one year, leaving it 34.5 percentage points behind the S&P 500 for the year. Those moves, combined with the distance below key moving averages, portray prolonged technical weakness rather than a single isolated swing.

Fundamentals and valuation

On a trailing four-quarter basis through June 30, 2026, Westlake reported revenue of $11.29 billion, a decline of 4.0% from a year earlier. Gross margin was 4.7% (a year earlier: 11.2%), while operating margin was 10.9% (a year earlier: 0.9%). Diluted earnings per share for the period was $-9.62 and free-cash-flow margin was 2.3%. Return on invested capital was 6.4% and the company’s share count over one year increased by 0.2%.

Quarterly revenue by period end. The latest quarter brought $3.3B, 10.8% more than the same quarter a year earlier.

Valuation metrics signal a premium on expected earnings relative to cash returns. The stock trades at 28.7 times expected earnings on a price to forward earnings basis and has a free-cash-flow yield of 3.3%. Within the sector the PromtFinance scores are low across most categories: Value 24 (Very weak), Growth 21 (Very weak), Quality 11 (Very weak), Momentum 18 (Very weak), Revisions 12 (Very weak), and Stability 53 (Neutral).

Earnings and analyst expectations

Westlake’s next report is scheduled for October 29, 2026. The company previously reported on August 4, 2026, with earnings per share of $2.01 against $1.83 expected, 9.8% above estimates, and the typical two-day reaction after recent reports was that the stock rose 1.0%. The company has one consecutive quarter beating estimates, and the average surprise over the last four reports is 100.0% below estimates. Analysts covering the stock number 32, the consensus rating is Hold, and 22% of those analysts rate the stock Buy or Strong Buy. The consensus price target is $84.89, which is 39.5% above the closing price.

Diluted earnings per share by quarter. The latest quarter shows $2.01, against -$1.10 in the same quarter a year earlier.

The company also said it will release third quarter 2026 results before the market opens on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, and will host a conference call at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time the same day to discuss the results, according to GlobeNewsWire. Westlake Chemical Partners said it will release third quarter 2026 results before the market opens on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, and will host a conference call at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time the same day, according to GlobeNewsWire.

What to watch

October 29, 2026: Next earnings report date.
November 4, 2026: Westlake will release third quarter 2026 results before the market opens and host a conference call at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time, according to GlobeNewsWire.
November 4, 2026: Westlake Chemical Partners will release third quarter 2026 results before the market opens and host a conference call at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, according to GlobeNewsWire.
Consensus price target of $84.89, 39.5% above the closing price; 32 analysts cover the stock.
The stock is 30.5% below its 200-day average and 51.0% below its 52-week high.

Full WLK analysis: scores, chart and financials →