What happened with DOW today?
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Uses news and trading volume to explain the day’s move and how it relates to the market.
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Dow supplies materials that manufacturers turn into packaging, building products and other finished goods. Packaging & Specialty Plastics is its largest source of sales. Dow processes oil- and gas-derived raw materials into basic chemicals such as ethylene, then uses much of that ethylene itself to make polyethylene and other plastics. Manufacturers and distributors buy these materials for uses including food packaging, pipes and vehicle components.
Dow also sells intermediate chemicals and polyurethane materials used in construction, appliances, furniture and bedding. Its coatings and silicone businesses supply ingredients for paints and materials for electronics, home and personal care products. Almost all revenue comes from selling products, rather than licensing technology, and no single customer accounts for a significant share of sales.
Earnings depend on the gap between selling prices and production costs. Raw materials and energy account for a substantial part of costs, and Dow cannot always pass cost increases on promptly. Chemical-industry oversupply can also depress prices and factory utilization. Environmental and hazardous-material rules govern its plants; permit failures or violations can restrict or halt operations.
The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.
Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
Dow’s results hinge on global chemical demand, industry capacity and feedstock costs, with BASF and INEOS important competitors to watch beyond this list.
LyondellBasell competes with Dow across ethylene, polyethylene, propylene oxide and industrial intermediate chemicals, making its chemicals results a useful comparison for Dow. Watch its polyethylene sales alongside Dow’s sales to packaging customers, and its propylene oxide business alongside Dow’s industrial materials.
Westlake Corporation competes with Dow by making basic chemicals and turning them into polyethylene and vinyl materials sold into industrial and consumer markets. Its Performance and Essential Materials results are the closer comparison for Dow, particularly ethylene, polyethylene and chlor-alkali and vinyl products, rather than its finished building products.
Huntsman competes with Dow for industrial and building-product manufacturers buying polyurethane systems, polyols and amines. Its polyurethane business is the part to watch, especially the formulated systems it sells with technical support to retain customers.
Eastman competes with Dow for industrial manufacturers and formulators buying chemical intermediates and specialty materials. Its Chemical Intermediates results offer a more focused comparison for Dow’s industrial chemicals than Eastman’s company-wide earnings.
Celanese competes with Dow in chemicals used in coatings and specialty polymers, including ethylene vinyl acetate and elastomers sold for manufacturing applications. Watch its engineered-materials business for the polymer overlap, while keeping its pharmaceutical-grade ethylene vinyl acetate distinct from Dow’s broader ethylene vinyl acetate offering.
Olin competes with Dow in chlor-alkali and vinyl products sold to chemical and industrial manufacturers. Watch that segment rather than Olin’s total sales: it accounted for 54% of 2025 sales, while ammunition and epoxy made up the rest.
ExxonMobil competes with Dow in polyethylene and the basic hydrocarbon chemicals used to make downstream materials, but oil and gas dominate its broader business. Its polyethylene business serving markets such as packaging is the relevant comparison for Dow, not its overall oil-and-gas-led results.
Sasol’s chemicals business competes with Dow’s Industrial Solutions business for industrial customers. Its chemicals results are the relevant comparison for Dow’s sales of industrial ingredients such as solvents and amines, rather than Sasol’s gas sales or coal supplied for its own use.
Phillips 66’s competitive tie to Dow runs through its jointly owned Chevron Phillips Chemical business, which competes in olefins and polyethylene.
Ashland competes with Dow for manufacturers and formulators buying construction chemicals and additives for coatings and other formulated products. Its Specialty Additives results, particularly additives for architectural coatings and construction, are the part most relevant to Dow’s coating ingredients and construction materials.
EIA Crude Oil Stocks Change (Oct/16)
U.S. crude oil and fuel stocks track how much supply is stored; because crude and natural-gas prices influence the feedstocks and energy Dow pays for, tighter stocks can raise production costs and squeeze margins if sales prices do not adjust promptly.
If stocks are falling, consider whether tighter oil and fuel supply could lift the feedstock and energy costs Dow pays; rising stocks may ease that cost pressure. The effect on margins depends on whether Dow can adjust product prices promptly.
Dow Inc. earningsThis company
Dow’s report will show whether weak product prices are still squeezing its businesses’ margins against feedstock costs.
Read local price and product mix alongside segment Operating EBIT (operating earnings before interest and taxes). Stabilizing prices and mix with rising Operating EBIT would show sales are covering feedstock, energy and production costs better; falling prices and profit would show industry oversupply is still weighing on prices, with any cost relief too small to turn the business around.
LyondellBasell Industries N.V. earningsLYB
LyondellBasell’s chemicals results will show whether the polyethylene and propylene oxide markets are also affecting Dow’s overlapping products.
Read LyondellBasell’s polyethylene sales and profit alongside its propylene oxide results, comparing them respectively with Dow’s Packaging & Specialty Plastics and Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure businesses. Strength in the first points to a more supportive market for Dow’s packaging polyethylene; improvement in the second points to better conditions for propylene oxide products. Weakness in both suggests demand or pricing pressure may persist across Dow’s corresponding lines.
Industrial Production MoM (Oct)
Factory, mine and utility output tracks how much industrial activity is taking place; stronger U.S. activity can mean manufacturers buy more of Dow’s chemicals and materials, lifting sales volumes, while weaker activity can reduce them.
Read stronger factory, mine and utility output as a possible sign that industrial customers may buy more Dow chemicals and materials; weaker output may signal less demand and lower sales volumes.
