LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB)

Price$58.14Cached quoteAs of 2026-09-25 23:41 UTC

AI: Fair-priced

Price checkLyondellBasell looks reasonably priced because recovery potential is offset by weak through-cycle cash generation and leverage.

LyondellBasell closed at $66.06 on August 19, 2026, the latest completed regular session before this research time. The roughly 323 million diluted shares imply a market value near $21.3 billion. Second-quarter adjusted earnings of $4.30 per share look very cheap when annualized, but unusually tight global petrochemical supply inflated that quarter. Fiscal 2025 free cash flow, meaning operating cash after capital spending, was only about $384 million. With roughly $10.3 billion of net debt in June, today’s price fairly balances recovery upside against substantial cycle risk.

Big picturePetrochemical profits are recovering sharply, but recent gains depend partly on temporary global supply disruptions.

Revenue fell from $50.45 billion in 2022 to $30.15 billion in 2025, while net income swung from $3.89 billion to a $738 million loss. Conditions improved dramatically in second-quarter 2026: revenue rose 20% from a year earlier to $9.18 billion, and adjusted earnings reached $4.30 per share. Middle East supply disruptions lifted polyethylene prices and margins, helping North American plants run near 90% utilization. This demonstrates powerful operating leverage, but chemicals remain highly cyclical; new capacity, weaker manufacturing demand, or restored global supply can reverse margins quickly.

Business strengthCost reductions and asset sales strengthen the company, but elevated debt and the dividend cut expose limited financial flexibility.

At June 30, LyondellBasell had $2.63 billion of cash and $12.91 billion of debt, leaving about $10.28 billion of net debt. Current assets of $11.67 billion comfortably exceeded $7.11 billion of current liabilities, and management reported $7.1 billion of available liquidity. However, weak 2025 cash generation forced a major capital-allocation reset: the quarterly dividend was cut from $1.37 to $0.69 in February. Recent buybacks are negligible, while shares remain around 323 million. Selling four weaker European sites and reducing fixed costs should improve resilience, but deleveraging remains important.

What could change the storyA durable chemical recovery could make shares cheap, while normalized supply conditions could quickly erase recent earnings strength.

The bull case is that global capacity rationalization combines with LyondellBasell’s lower-cost North American feedstocks and $1.3 billion cumulative cash-improvement target by year-end 2026 to lift through-cycle earnings materially. The second quarter showed what that operating leverage can produce. The bear case is that its $4.30 adjusted quarterly earnings were unusually boosted by geopolitical supply shortages rather than sustainable demand. At $66.06, the shares become attractive if normalized earnings settle around $6-$8 per share with better free cash flow. Earnings nearer $3-$4 and continued heavy debt would justify little upside.

AI: News

Second-quarter profit surgeSupply disruptions drove a large earnings beat, showing major upside when global chemical markets tighten.

On July 31, 2026, LyondellBasell reported second-quarter revenue of $9.18 billion and adjusted earnings of $4.30 per share, versus a $3.33 market expectation cited by Investing.com. Adjusted operating cash earnings reached $2.1 billion as tighter global petrochemical supply improved polymer margins. Shares rose about 2% in premarket trading. The earnings improvement is economically meaningful, but management explicitly linked much of the favorable pricing environment to geopolitical supply disruptions, making its durability uncertain.

European assets soldLyondellBasell exited four weaker European sites to lower structural costs and concentrate capital on more competitive plants.

On May 1, 2026, LyondellBasell completed the sale of four European olefins and polyolefins assets to AEQUITA. The second-quarter accounts later included a substantial loss on the transaction and a $310 million cash contribution connected with completing the divestiture. The company expects the smaller European footprint to improve average margins and reduce fixed costs. The shares rose about 0.5% that session according to StockTitan, but earnings were released the same day, so the move cannot be attributed solely to the asset sale.

Dividend cut resets expectationsThe dividend was nearly halved after a prolonged industry downturn exposed how far cash generation had fallen.

On February 20, 2026, LyondellBasell cut its quarterly dividend from $1.37 to $0.69 per share, saying one of the industry’s longest downturns required greater financial flexibility. The company had paid $1.76 billion of dividends in 2025 while generating only about $384 million of free cash flow before other adjustments. Barron’s reported that the stock initially fell before recovering to close 2.4% higher. The cut improves future cash retention, but it also confirms that the previous payout was unsustainable under depressed chemical margins.

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Financial statements

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011
Revenue	$30.15B	$33.39B	$33.34B	$50.45B	$46.17B	$27.00B	$33.91B	$38.13B	$33.70B	$28.45B	$32.73B	$45.61B	$44.06B	$45.35B	$48.18B
Gross profit	$2.58B	$4.64B	$4.90B	$6.60B	$8.78B	$2.64B	$4.61B	$5.60B	$5.65B	$5.26B	$7.05B	$6.67B	$6.12B	$5.76B	$5.45B
Gross margin	8.55%	13.91%	14.70%	13.09%	19.01%	9.76%	13.59%	14.68%	16.75%	18.50%	21.54%	14.62%	13.89%	12.69%	11.31%
Research & development	$136.0M	$135.0M	$130.0M	$124.0M	$124.0M	$113.0M	$111.0M	$115.0M	$106.0M	$99.0M	$102.0M	$127.0M	$150.0M	$172.0M	$196.0M
Operating expenses	$30.57B	$31.48B	$30.61B	$45.35B	$39.40B	$1.08B	$491.0M	$366.0M	$186.0M	$203.0M	$26.61B	$39.87B	$38.96B	$40.68B	$43.85B
Operating income	−$420.0M	$1.92B	$2.73B	$5.10B	$6.77B	$1.56B	$4.12B	$5.23B	$5.46B	$5.06B	$6.12B	$5.74B	$5.10B	$4.68B	$4.34B
Operating margin	−1.39%	5.74%	8.17%	10.11%	14.67%	5.78%	12.14%	13.72%	16.20%	17.78%	18.70%	12.58%	11.58%	10.31%	9.00%
EBITDA	$970.0M	$3.44B	$4.26B	$6.37B	$8.17B	$2.94B	$5.43B	$6.47B	$6.63B	$6.12B	$7.17B	$6.75B	$6.12B	$5.66B	$5.27B
EBITDA margin	3.22%	10.30%	12.78%	12.62%	17.69%	10.91%	16.01%	16.98%	19.68%	21.52%	21.90%	14.81%	13.90%	12.48%	10.93%
Net income	−$738.0M	$1.37B	$2.12B	$3.89B	$5.62B	$1.43B	$3.40B	$4.69B	$4.88B	$3.84B	$4.48B	$4.17B	$3.86B	$2.85B	$2.15B
Net profit margin	−2.45%	4.09%	6.36%	7.71%	12.17%	5.29%	10.02%	12.30%	14.48%	13.48%	13.67%	9.15%	8.75%	6.28%	4.46%
Basic EPSper basic share	-$2.34	$4.16	$6.48	$11.84	$16.77	$4.24	$9.59	$12.04	$12.23	$9.15	$9.62	$8.03	$6.80	$4.97	$3.76
Diluted EPSper diluted share	-$2.34	$4.15	$6.46	$11.81	$16.75	$4.24	$9.58	$12.01	$12.23	$9.13	$9.59	$7.99	$6.75	$4.92	$3.74

Review official source filings ↗

Owners

Reported shareholders

Reference date Jun 30, 2026

9.07%of listed shares

BlackRock, Inc.29.3M shares · Jun 30, 2026

View holders

Top 20 reported holders of LYB
Holder	% owned
BlackRock, Inc.	9.07%29.3M shares
VANGUARD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC	5.23%16.88M shares
STATE STREET CORP	4.56%14.73M shares
Capital World Investors	4.26%13.77M shares
VANGUARD PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT LLC	3.71%11.98M shares
AQR CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC	2.86%9.22M shares
Davis Selected Advisers	2.69%8.7M shares
MORGAN STANLEY	2.68%8.65M shares
FMR LLC	2.56%8.28M shares
GEODE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC	2.27%7.32M shares
Invesco Ltd.	1.56%5.04M shares
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA	1.45%4.7M shares
NORGES BANK	1.19%3.85M shares
Man Group plc	1.01%3.26M shares
Capital International Investors	0.96%3.1M shares
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO	0.89%2.88M shares
GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC	0.89%2.88M shares
Qube Research & Technologies Ltd	0.88%2.84M shares
CHARLES SCHWAB INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC	0.83%2.68M shares
CITADEL ADVISORS LLC	0.75%2.43M shares

Percentages use 323M shares of this listed class outstanding on Jun 30, 2026.

Gray completes the 100% scale. Reported positions may overlap; holders have different reporting dates.

Source: SEC Form 13F ↗Updated Sep 29, 2026 · Quarterly data

Insider buys & sells

Jul 1, 2024–Jun 30, 2026

Buys5$36.99M disclosed value

Sells (SEC code S)10$28.55M disclosed value

Transaction	Insider	Type	Shares	Price	Value	Owned after
May 13, 2026Form 4	Kaplan Jeffrey AEVP, Chief PC, Leg & Corp Ofc	SellClass A Ordinary Shares	10.0K	$74.16	$741.6K	96.7K
Mar 9, 2026Form 4	Blavatnik Len +4TenPercentOwner	SellOrdinary shares	251	$68.90	$17.3K	765.2K
Mar 9, 2026Form 4	Blavatnik Len +4TenPercentOwner	SellOrdinary shares · indirect	114.6K	$68.90	$7.90M	5.27M
Mar 9, 2026Form 4	Blavatnik Len +4TenPercentOwner	SellOrdinary shares	414	$68.13	$28.2K	765.4K
Mar 9, 2026Form 4	Blavatnik Len +4TenPercentOwner	SellOrdinary shares · indirect	189.3K	$68.13	$12.90M	5.39M

Review ownership filings at SEC.gov ↗

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LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB)

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