Home Compare LYB vs SHW
Stock Comparison · Industry comparison · Specialty Chemicals

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. vs The Sherwin-Williams Company: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

The Sherwin-Williams Company holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across profitability and valuation. LyondellBasell Industries still has the edge on valuation, which keeps the comparison from looking entirely one-sided. In the market, LyondellBasell Industries carries the stronger setup — intact trend against The Sherwin-Williams Company's broken trend. That leaves a split case: the structural lead stays with The Sherwin-Williams Company, but the market is not currently confirming it.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the S&P 500 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-08-16

The result is anchored in profitability, but stability also reinforces the same direction. The overall score gap is 12 points in favour of The Sherwin-Williams Company.

INDUSTRY COMPARISON

Both operate in: Specialty Chemicals

This comparison is based on industry proximity, not on functional trajectory similarity. LYB and SHW share the same industry classification.

For a similarity-based comparison, see how LyondellBasell Industries and SHW each position within their functional peer groups in AssetNext.

Peer-Relative Score
LYB
LyondellBasell Industries N.V.
61
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: S&P 500
vs
SHW
The Sherwin-Williams Company
73
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: S&P 500

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

The largest gaps do not all point in the same direction.

Dimension spread: LYB vs SHW Profitability 33 83 Stability 43 69 Valuation 88 57 Growth 82 84 LYB SHW
Gap Ranking
#1 Profitability +50
#2 Valuation +31
#3 Stability +26
#4 Growth +2
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for LYB and SHW Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer LYBSHW Relative valuation Structural strength

The Sherwin-Williams Company still looks cheaper, even though LyondellBasell Industries N.V. remains structurally stronger.

Valuation position uses Forward P/E and peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Entry today — historical context

Where LYB and SHW each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY LYB Lower · near norm 0th 50th 100th 66 pct gap SHW Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 26th 91st
Today LYB sits in the lower-middle of its own 5-year history (26th percentile), while SHW sits higher in its own history (91st). Within each stock's own 5-year context, LYB is at a historically more favourable entry position than SHW. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger — peer-relative analysis is a separate question addressed above.

Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Profitability
On profitability, The Sherwin-Williams Company ranks near the top of the group; LyondellBasell Industries N.V. sits in the weaker half.
Valuation
On valuation, the edge is clear — both rank well, but LyondellBasell Industries N.V. sits noticeably higher.
Profitability — Dominant Gap
LYB
33
SHW
83
Gap+50in favour of SHW

Capital efficiency adds support, with a 16.8-point ROIC advantage.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

Absolute pricing still looks more supportive for LyondellBasell Industries, with a forward P/E that is 16.5 turns lower there.

What this means for the comparison

The profitability lead is clear, but pricing and valuation still pull in the other direction — the result holds, but not without friction.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the LYB vs SHW comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

Explore full breakdown →
Other comparisons with conflicting dimension signals

Explore how LYB and SHW each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.