LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
LyondellBasell (LYB) is one of the world's largest producers of plastics, chemicals, and refined products, and it trades as a deeply cyclical, high-yield commodity chemicals stock whose earnings swing with global supply gluts and feedstock spreads. It is typically approached as a value and income name rather than a growth story, though the 2026 dividend cut underscores how sensitive that income is to the down-cycle.
LYB stock price
As of 2026-07-24, LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB) last closed at $60.32, down 5.8% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $42.28 and $82.38.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or LyondellBasell Industries NV's investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB) do?
LyondellBasell Industries is a Netherlands-domiciled, US-listed multinational and one of the largest plastics, chemicals, and refining companies in the world. Its business is organized around Olefins and Polyolefins in the Americas and in Europe/Asia/International, an Intermediates and Derivatives segment, Advanced Polymer Solutions, and a Refining operation the company has been winding down. The core products are the building blocks of everyday plastics (polyethylene and polypropylene) plus propylene oxide, oxyfuels, and other intermediates, so results move with feedstock costs, product spreads, and regional demand rather than with a single end market.
The investment picture is defined by cyclicality and capital return. LYB entered 2026 in a prolonged industry downturn marked by global petrochemical oversupply and weak polyolefin spreads, which pushed trailing earnings sharply lower and led the board to recalibrate (cut) the quarterly dividend in February 2026 to preserve balance-sheet strength. Management is reshaping the portfolio, selling four European sites, exiting refining, and leaning into circular and lower-carbon plastics, while positioning for a sequential recovery it expects as tighter supply and Middle East disruptions steepen the global cost curve. The result is a low-multiple, high-yield name whose thesis rests on the timing and magnitude of a chemicals up-cycle.
What's driving LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB)?
1. Cycle recovery in polyolefins
LYB's earnings are dominated by polyethylene and polypropylene spreads, which sat near cycle lows through 2025 and early 2026. Management points to tighter global supply and geopolitical disruption steepening the cost curve as catalysts for sequential margin improvement. A durable up-cycle would be the single largest swing factor for results.
2. Portfolio reshaping and refining exit
The company is simplifying its footprint, closing or selling higher-cost European assets (four sites sold) and winding down its Houston refinery. The aim is a more focused, lower-cost olefins and polyolefins core. Execution and proceeds from asset sales support both the balance sheet and future capital allocation.
3. Circular and low-carbon plastics
LYB is investing in mechanical and advanced recycling plus renewable-feedstock polymers under its circular growth platform. This targets customer demand for sustainable materials and could add higher-value volumes over time. It is a strategic tilt rather than a near-term earnings driver.
4. Capital return after the reset
Even after the February 2026 dividend recalibration, LYB still offers a mid-single-digit yield and retains a history of buybacks. The recalibrated payout is intended to be more sustainable through the trough and to leave room to raise it again as markets recover.
What are the risks to LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB)?
LYB is deeply cyclical, so a prolonged glut in global petrochemical capacity, especially new supply from the Middle East and China, can keep polyolefin spreads compressed and earnings depressed. The February 2026 dividend cut showed that the income is not guaranteed and can be reduced when markets stay weak. Feedstock and energy price swings, refining exit costs, foreign-currency exposure, and environmental and plastics-pollution litigation add further uncertainty. Trailing earnings have been near or below breakeven, so the valuation leans heavily on a recovery that may arrive later or weaker than hoped. As a commodity producer, LYB has limited pricing power in downturns.
How is LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB) valued? (approximate, July 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see LyondellBasell Industries NV's investor relations page or your broker.
- Share price: ~$62
- Market cap: ~$19.5B
- Revenue (TTM): ~$30B
- Q1 2026 adjusted EPS: ~$0.49
- Q1 2026 adjusted EBITDA: ~$615M
- Dividend (annualized) / yield: ~$2.76 / ~4.7%
LYB reported Q1 2026 revenue of roughly $7.2 billion, down about 6% year over year, with adjusted EPS of ~$0.49 beating low expectations and adjusted EBITDA of ~$615 million. Trailing GAAP earnings have been depressed by the chemicals downturn, so the stock trades on a low price-to-sales multiple and a recovering forward earnings estimate rather than a clean trailing P/E. The mid-single-digit dividend yield reflects the February 2026 payout recalibration.
Who competes with LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB)?
Commodity and diversified chemicals
Dow, Westlake, Celanese, and BASF compete directly in olefins, polyolefins, and intermediates, where scale and feedstock advantage drive margins. LYB competes on cost position and integration across these overlapping product lines.
Integrated oil-and-chemicals majors
ExxonMobil Chemical, Chevron Phillips Chemical, and Shell's chemicals arm run large petrochemical operations backed by upstream feedstock. Their integration can provide a cost cushion that pressures standalone producers like LYB during down-cycles.
Global and emerging-market polyolefin producers
SABIC, Braskem, INEOS, and expanding Middle Eastern and Chinese capacity add global polyethylene and polypropylene supply. This new capacity is a key source of the oversupply that has weighed on industry-wide spreads.
How to invest in LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB)
There are three common ways to get LYB exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so LYB sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where LYB fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.
The bottom line on LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB)
LYB is a cyclical commodity-chemicals heavyweight trading near cycle-low earnings, where the payoff depends on a recovery in polyolefin margins rather than steady growth.
More on LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB)
Whether LYB is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is LYB a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the LYB stock forecast.
For income investors, whether LYB pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does LYB pay a dividend?
Build a basket around LYB with Walnut
Use LyondellBasell Industries NV as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
What does LyondellBasell do?
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LyondellBasell is one of the world's largest producers of plastics, chemicals, and refined products. It makes polyethylene and polypropylene (the raw materials for many plastics), plus chemical intermediates like propylene oxide and oxyfuels, and it historically operated a refinery it is now exiting.
Is LYB a growth stock or a value stock?
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LYB is generally viewed as a cyclical value and income stock rather than a growth stock. Its earnings rise and fall with commodity chemical spreads, so it trades on a low valuation multiple and a mid-single-digit dividend yield instead of consistent revenue growth.
Why did LyondellBasell cut its dividend in 2026?
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In February 2026 the board recalibrated the quarterly dividend to $0.69 per share, roughly halving it, citing challenged markets. Management framed it as a move to preserve balance-sheet strength through the downturn and to leave room to raise the payout again once conditions recover.
What is LYB's dividend yield?
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After the February 2026 recalibration, LYB pays about $2.76 per share annualized, which works out to a yield of roughly 4.7% at a share price near $62 in mid-2026. Yield figures vary with the stock price and the trailing-twelve-month calculation used.
What are the biggest risks to LYB?
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The main risks are the depth and length of the chemicals down-cycle, global oversupply from new Middle Eastern and Chinese capacity, feedstock and energy price swings, costs tied to exiting refining, and environmental and plastics-pollution litigation. A weak or delayed recovery keeps earnings and the dividend under pressure.
Who are LyondellBasell's main competitors?
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LYB competes with diversified chemical makers like Dow, Westlake, Celanese, and BASF, integrated oil-and-chemicals majors such as ExxonMobil Chemical and Chevron Phillips Chemical, and global polyolefin producers including SABIC, Braskem, and INEOS.
How did LYB perform in its most recent quarter?
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In Q1 2026 LYB reported revenue of about $7.2 billion, down roughly 6% year over year, with adjusted EPS near $0.49 topping muted estimates and adjusted EBITDA of about $615 million improving sequentially. Management guided to further sequential improvement as supply tightened.
How can someone invest in LYB?
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LYB trades on the New York Stock Exchange and can be bought through any standard brokerage account, individually or as part of a materials or thematic basket. Walnut lets you group holdings around a stated thesis and place trades through your connected broker, but Walnut is not an investment adviser and this is not a recommendation.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with LyondellBasell Industries NV's investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.