CAST vs IQ vs SPOT Stock Comparison

FreeCast, iQIYI and Spotify Technology Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (BABA) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
CAST FreeCast, Inc.
$1.36 +16.2% 1M
Market cap
$53.55M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$729.33K
Div. yield
–
Streaming Technology
IQ iQIYI, Inc.
$0.83 -16.2% 1M -64.7% 1Y
Market cap
$362.76M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$3.71B
Div. yield
–
Streaming Technology

Head to Head

7 decided of 12

Spotify Technology leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Spotify Technology 7). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCASTIQSPOTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $53.55M $362.76M $121.11B SPOT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -4.0x -3.0x 35.2x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — — 44.3x –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — -3.2% +17.0% SPOT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -1,832.2% -3.2% 15.7% SPOT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — -0.8% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.4x — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months — -64.7% -16.3% SPOT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — -36.9%/yr +14.0%/yr SPOT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 280.2% 50.6% 46.6% SPOT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 10/100 30/100 62/100 SPOT

Percentile Scorecard

CASTIQSPOT

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCASTIQSPOT
Valuation 1 #164 of 166 70 #50 of 166 31 #115 of 166
Growth – 0 #153 of 153 96 #7 of 153
Profitability 6 #144 of 153 31 #106 of 153 84 #25 of 153
Financial Health 25 #134 of 179 19 #145 of 179 83 #32 of 179
Shareholder Returns 6 #86 of 91 – 17 #76 of 91
Overall 10 30 62
  • CAST ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms
  • IQ ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms
  • SPOT ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCASTIQSPOTSPY
1 month +16.2%-16.2%+13.0% +0.7%
3 months +3.0%-35.2%+6.6% +3.7%
6 months -34.9%-29.7%+24.8% +7.1%
Year to date —-56.8%-4.0% +12.8%
1 year —-64.7%-16.3% +11.9%
3 years —-82.8%+242.6% +85.2%
3 years, per year —-44.4%+50.8% +22.8%
5 years —-90.0%+92.6% +67.6%
5 years, per year —-36.9%+14.0% +10.9%

Risk

MeasureCASTIQSPOTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 280.2%50.6%46.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 206.7%52.9%44.7% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.271.240.28 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y —-1.28-0.35 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -93.5%-90.9%-76.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -86.2%-64.7%-16.3% -1.2%
52-week high $9.84$2.35$665.67 $779.14
52-week low $0.59$0.83$412.75 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCASTIQSPOT
P/E now vs peer median -4.0xmedian 16.7x -3.0xmedian 16.7x 33.3xmedian 16.7x
P/S now vs peer median 87.5xmedian 1.4x 0.2xmedian 1.4x 5.2xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -4.5xmedian 12.7x —median 12.7x 31.2xmedian 12.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median -6.1xmedian 10.5x 12.1xmedian 10.5x 31.0xmedian 10.5x
P/B now vs peer median 28.3xmedian 1.7x 0.4xmedian 1.7x 11.6xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.39 0.08median 0.39 0.40median 0.39

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCASTIQSPOT
Revenue $729.33K $3.71B $21.85B
Gross profit $577.20K $665.38M $7.24B
Operating income -$12.92M -$57.57M $3.19B
Net income -$13.36M -$89.99M $3.44B
Free cash flow -$10.49M $66.12M $3.69B
R&D – $233.12M $1.67B
EPS (diluted) $-0.34 $-0.05 $16.34
Cash & equivalents $8.92M $471.90M $6.84B
Total debt $10.11M $3.74B –
Shares (diluted) 39.52M 2.36B 210.51M
Enterprise value $43.53M -$2.01B $78.02B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCASTIQSPOT
P/E -4.0x -3.0x 33.3x
P/FCF -6.1x 12.1x 31.0x
P/Operating cash flow -6.1x 17.4x 30.4x
P/S 87.5x 0.2x 5.2x
P/B 28.3x 0.4x 11.6x
P/Tangible book 28.3x 0.4x 11.6x
EV/EBITDA -4.5x – 31.2x
EV/EBIT -4.5x -21.5x 32.5x
EV/Revenue 80.3x 0.3x 4.7x
EV/FCF -5.6x 18.7x 28.0x
EV/Operating cash flow -5.6x 26.9x 27.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.08 0.40

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCASTIQSPOT
Revenue growth (1Y) – -3.2% 17.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – -6.2% 17.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – -24.2% 22.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – -18.0% 28.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) – -150.6% 45.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – -29.2% 91.3%
Net income growth (1Y) – -239.9% 117.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – -39.2% 86.0%
EPS growth (1Y) – -1,091% 113.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – -39.0% 82.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – -69.5% 15.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -52.2% 152.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -57.7% 12.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -46.4% 166.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCASTIQSPOT
Gross margin 79.1% 17.9% 33.1%
EBITDA margin -1,769% – 15.2%
Operating margin -1,772% -1.6% 14.6%
Pretax margin -1,834% -2.1% 18.0%
Net margin -1,832% -3.2% 15.7%
FCF margin -1,438% 1.8% 16.9%
Operating cash flow margin -1,435% 1.2% 17.3%
Return on equity – -4.8% 35.3%
Return on assets -243.0% -1.3% 21.5%
Return on invested capital – -0.8% –
Return on capital employed – -1.6% 20.0%
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.6x 1.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.8x -0.5x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 157.9% – 1.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCASTIQSPOT
Debt / assets 37.2% 15.6% –
Debt / equity 1.6x 0.6x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.4x – –
Debt / FCF -0.4x 15.8x –
Liabilities / assets 77.2% 72.3% 38.9%
Equity / assets 22.8% 27.7% 61.1%
Interest coverage – -0.5x 3.0x
Current ratio 1.3x 0.4x –
Quick ratio 1.2x 0.3x 223.0x
Cash ratio 1.2x 0.2x 206.0x
Altman Z-score -30.13 -1.06 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCASTIQSPOT
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield -15.2% – -0.6%
Shareholder yield -15.2% – -0.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCASTIQSPOT
Forward P/E – – 44.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.22FY2027 $-0.07FY2026 $12.58FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – -275.0%FY2026 +1.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – – +39.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.82MFY2027 $3.56BFY2026 $20.91BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +296.6%FY2027 -8.8%FY2026 +3.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1,697.5% +3.7% +27.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCASTIQSPOT
Held by institutions – 26.0% 65.9%
Institutions holding – 128 1,237
Change in shares held, QoQ – -5.6% +1.1%
Institutions buying – 57 615
Institutions selling – 40 482
Buyers to sellers – 1.43 1.28

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CASTIQSPOT
CAST 1.00 0.01 -0.04
IQ 0.01 1.00 0.09
SPOT -0.04 0.09 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAST, IQ and SPOT?

Spotify Technology (SPOT) is the largest by market capitalisation: FreeCast (CAST) $53.55M, iQIYI (IQ) $362.76M, Spotify Technology (SPOT) $121.11B.

Which company is growing faster?

Spotify Technology (SPOT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: iQIYI (IQ) -3.2%, Spotify Technology (SPOT) +17.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Spotify Technology (SPOT) has the highest net margin (FreeCast (CAST) -1,832.2%, iQIYI (IQ) -3.2%, Spotify Technology (SPOT) 15.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Spotify Technology (SPOT) returned the most: iQIYI (IQ) -64.7%, Spotify Technology (SPOT) -16.3%. Over five years, Spotify Technology (SPOT) compounded fastest (iQIYI (IQ) -36.9%/yr, Spotify Technology (SPOT) +14.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Spotify Technology (SPOT) has been the steadiest (FreeCast (CAST) 280.2%, iQIYI (IQ) 50.6%, Spotify Technology (SPOT) 46.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CAST, IQ and SPOT?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Spotify Technology (SPOT) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.