Westlake Chemical Shares Dropped: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Westlake Chemical (NYS: WLK) fell 15% at the opening of the market today after the company released earnings.

So what: Revenue rose 24.2% to $968.4 million, easily surpassing estimates from analysts of $910.9 million in revenue. Earnings per share of $1.01 also beat estimates by $0.03, so the quarter was very good overall.

Now what: Much of the loss has already been recovered, and shares are currently down just 6%. Sales prices were up 29% during the quarter, showing strong demand, so the drop this morning was a bit puzzling. I think this dip presents a great buying opportunity, as shares trade well below 10 times 2011 earnings estimates.

Interested in more info on Westlake Chemical? Add it to your watchlist byclicking here.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Travis Hoium does not have a position in any company mentioned. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw.Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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