With a market cap of $21.7 billion, Dow Inc. (DOW) is a leading materials science company with a global footprint, offering innovative and sustainable solutions across packaging, infrastructure, mobility, and consumer markets. The company operates through three main segments: Packaging & Specialty Plastics, Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, and Performance Materials & Coatings.
Companies worth more than $10 billion are generally labeled as “large-cap” stocks and Dow fits this criterion perfectly. With manufacturing sites in every major region, the world’s largest ethylene cracker in Freeport, TX, and a strong low-cost global feedstock position, Dow maintains a competitive edge in high-growth markets worldwide.
Shares of the Midland, Michigan-based company pulled back 46.4% from its 52-week high of $57.22. Shares of DOW have declined 17.9% over the past three months, lagging behind the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund's (XLB) 3.4% rise over the same time frame.
Longer term, DOW stock is down 23.5% on a YTD basis, underperforming XLB’s 5.7% gain. In addition, shares of the global materials science industry specialist have dipped 45.2% over the past 52 weeks, compared to XLB’s marginal drop over the same time frame.
The stock has been trading below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages since last year.
Shares of Dow rose 2.6% on Apr. 24 after the company reported Q1 2025 results, with adjusted EPS of $0.02 topping analysts’ forecast. Revenue came in at $10.4 billion, slightly beating estimates despite declining 3.1% year-over-year. Investors reacted positively to the company’s proactive cost-saving measures and $6 billion in total cash support, along with the strategic delay of the Alberta Path2Zero project to align spending with market conditions.
Additionally, the $8 million EBIT gain in Performance Materials & Coatings and the sale of the adhesives business to Arkema boosted confidence in asset optimization.
In comparison, shares of rival Celanese Corporation (CE) have declined 59.1% over the past 52 weeks, an even steeper loss than DOW’s. However, on a YTD basis, Celanese stock has fallen 14.2%, marking a less severe drop than DOW’s performance.
Due to the stock’s weak performance, analysts are cautious about its prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” from the 18 analysts covering the stock, and as of writing, DOW is trading below the mean price target of $36.23.
