BIO vs WLK Comparison

Bio-Rad Laboratories, headquartered in Hercules, California, develops, manufactures, and sells products and solutions for the clinical diagnostics and life sciences markets. In clinical diagnostics (60% of sales), Bio-Rad sells test systems and specialized quality controls for clinical laboratories. In life sciences (40% of sales), it develops and manufactures instruments and reagents used in research, biopharmaceutical production, and food testing and has a leadership position in dPCR technology. The company is geographically diverse, with major markets in the Americas (about 40% of sales), Europe (about 30%), Asia (about 30%), and other. Bio-Rad owns approximately 33% of Sartorius, a lab and bioprocessing supplier that specializes in single-use technology used in biologics manufacturing.

Westlake is a forward-integrated commodity chemicals firm based in Houston. It began as a single low-density polyethylene plant and expanded its capabilities to include ethylene, vinyl chloride monomers, and polyvinyl chloride over the next two decades. The acquisition of Axiall in 2016 made it a North American leader in chlor-alkali and PVC. Today, Westlake has two defined segments: performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products. The HIP segment began operating in 2022 following a series of acquisitions in the building products space. The firm aims to maximize the value of its chemical production by integrating with the HIP segment, realizing the higher margins of finished commercial goods.