CLW vs MERC vs SW Stock Comparison

Clearwater Paper, Mercer International and Smurfit Westrock Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CLW Clearwater Paper Corp
$13.84 -30.1% 1M -25.2% 1Y
Market cap
$219.50M
P/E
91.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.51B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
1 win
SW Smurfit Westrock plc
$44.51 +5.0% 1M +23.5% 1Y
Market cap
$23.07B
P/E
48.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$31.48B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
8 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Smurfit Westrock leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Smurfit Westrock 8, Mercer International 1, Clearwater Paper 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCLWMERCSWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $219.50M $14.94M $23.07B SW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 91.5x 0.0x 48.8x SW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — — 21.5x –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -3.2% -3.5% +1.1% SW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.2% -27.0% 1.5% SW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -1.3% -20.9% 3.0% SW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 7.6x -7.7x 3.2x MERC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.34% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -25.2% -87.0% +23.5% SW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -18.6%/yr -52.6%/yr -3.8%/yr SW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 62.8% 110.6% 42.6% SW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 14/100 48/100 CLW

Percentile Scorecard

CLWMERCSW

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

AxisCLWMERCSW
Valuation 100 #1 of 17 21 #234 of 296 69 #6 of 17
Growth 27 #12 of 16 4 #265 of 275 13 #14 of 16
Profitability 33 #11 of 16 28 #174 of 241 47 #9 of 16
Financial Health 75 #5 of 17 7 #275 of 294 81 #4 of 17
Shareholder Returns 15 #12 of 14 12 #191 of 218 31 #10 of 14
Overall 50 14 48
  • CLW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • MERC ranked among 309 companies in Basic Materials
  • SW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCLWMERCSWSPY
1 month -30.1%+4.2%+5.0% -5.9%
3 months -39.5%-63.2%-5.2% -4.6%
6 months +1.3%-77.5%+6.9% +0.2%
Year to date -20.5%-87.4%+15.1% +7.5%
1 year -25.2%-87.0%+23.5% +8.2%
3 years -61.9%-97.3%+35.3% +68.3%
3 years, per year -27.5%-70.0%+10.6% +19.0%
5 years -64.1%-97.6%-17.6% +56.5%
5 years, per year -18.6%-52.6%-3.8% +9.4%
10 years -73.4%-97.1%+103.2% +251.5%
10 years, per year -12.4%-29.7%+7.3% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureCLWMERCSWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 62.8%110.6%42.6% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 68.8%114.7%37.0% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.761.741.27 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.40-0.790.55 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -77.8%-99.3%-55.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -40.6%-91.0%-14.1% -5.9%
52-week high $23.30$2.79$51.84 $779.14
52-week low $12.44$0.12$32.79 $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.

MultipleCLWMERCSW
P/E now vs peer median 93.0xmedian 33.2x 0.0xmedian 17.3x 49.3xmedian 33.2x
P/S now vs peer median 0.1xmedian 0.7x 0.0xmedian 1.8x 0.7xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.8xmedian 10.3x -7.7xmedian 10.0x 8.7xmedian 10.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 3.9xmedian 17.5x -0.1xmedian 15.8x 27.4xmedian 17.5x
P/B now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 1.6x -0.1xmedian 1.8x 1.3xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median -1.35median 0.82 0.00median 0.59 —median 0.82

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 monthsCLWMERCSW
Revenue $1.51B $1.84B $31.48B
Gross profit $27.10M $76.25M $5.49B
Operating income -$24.30M -$409.10M $1.44B
Net income $2.40M -$495.88M $473.00M
Free cash flow $56.80M -$127.44M $852.00M
EPS (diluted) $0.15 $-7.38 $0.90
Cash & equivalents $35.70M $71.01M $723.00M
Total debt $567.40M $2.00B $14.05B
Shares (diluted) 16.13M 67.22M 528.00M
Enterprise value $21.20M -$406.18M $20.10B

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
MetricCLWMERCSW
P/E 93.0x 0.0x 49.3x
P/FCF 3.9x -0.1x 27.4x
P/Operating cash flow 2.1x -0.2x 7.7x
P/S 0.1x 0.0x 0.7x
P/B 0.3x -0.1x 1.3x
P/Tangible book 0.3x -0.1x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA 10.8x -7.7x 8.7x
EV/EBIT -31.1x -4.8x 25.5x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 1.1x 1.2x
EV/FCF 13.3x -15.3x 43.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.2x -26.1x 12.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -1.35 0.00 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCLWMERCSW
Revenue growth (1Y) -3.2% -3.5% 1.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 43.6% -4.4% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) -76.0% -64.0% -10.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 28.2% -30.2% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 62.7% -494.0% -16.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -31.2% -68.8% –
Net income growth (1Y) -98.3% -187.5% -36.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -69.5% -54.4% –
EPS growth (1Y) -98.3% -186.4% -37.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -69.0% -53.8% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 478.1% -322.2% 2.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -9.6% -97.8% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 142.2% -107.1% 6.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -10.9% 20.3% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCLWMERCSW
Gross margin 1.8% 4.1% 17.4%
EBITDA margin 4.6% -13.7% 13.3%
Operating margin -1.6% -22.2% 4.6%
Pretax margin -3.2% -28.6% 2.2%
Net margin 0.2% -27.0% 1.5%
FCF margin 3.8% -6.9% 2.7%
Operating cash flow margin 7.0% -4.1% 9.6%
Return on equity 0.3% – 2.6%
Return on assets 0.1% -26.9% 1.0%
Return on invested capital -1.3% -20.9% 3.0%
Return on capital employed -2.1% -33.3% 3.8%
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.0x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 43.8x 0.2x 6.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.0% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCLWMERCSW
Debt / assets 31.9% 110.4% 31.1%
Debt / equity 0.7x -12.7x 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 7.6x -7.7x 3.2x
Debt / FCF 10.0x -15.7x 16.5x
Liabilities / assets 55.3% 108.7% 60.1%
Equity / assets 44.7% -8.7% 39.9%
Interest coverage – -3.4x –
Current ratio 1.5x 1.2x 1.5x
Quick ratio 0.4x 0.6x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 1.75 0.01 1.48

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCLWMERCSW
Dividend yield – 0.0% 4.0%
Net buyback yield 0.0% – -0.1%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 0.0% 3.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) – -1.0% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – -3.9% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – -80.0% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -41.3% –

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.

ConsensusCLWMERCSW
Forward P/E – – 21.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-3.74FY2026 $-3.82FY2026 $2.07FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – – +1.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – – +66.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.55BFY2026 $2.01BFY2026 $33.66BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -0.5%FY2026 +7.4%FY2026 +8.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.7% +11.6% +9.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCLWMERCSW
Held by institutions 88.7% 63.8% 95.9%
Institutions holding 134 67 643
Change in shares held, QoQ +9.9% -11.3% +5.7%
Institutions buying 85 27 376
Institutions selling 33 19 191
Buyers to sellers 2.58 1.42 1.97

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.

CLWMERCSW
CLW 1.00 0.08 0.32
MERC 0.08 1.00 0.19
SW 0.32 0.19 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CLW, MERC and SW?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Clearwater Paper (CLW) $219.50M, Mercer International (MERC) $14.94M, Smurfit Westrock (SW) $23.07B.

Which stock is cheaper, CLW, MERC and SW?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Clearwater Paper (CLW) 91.5x, Mercer International (MERC) 0.0x, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 48.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Clearwater Paper (CLW) -3.2%, Mercer International (MERC) -3.5%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) +1.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) has the highest net margin (Clearwater Paper (CLW) 0.2%, Mercer International (MERC) -27.0%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 1.5%). On return on invested capital, Smurfit Westrock (SW) leads (Clearwater Paper (CLW) -1.3%, Mercer International (MERC) -20.9%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 3.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Smurfit Westrock (SW) returned the most: Clearwater Paper (CLW) -25.2%, Mercer International (MERC) -87.0%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) +23.5%. Over five years, Smurfit Westrock (SW) compounded fastest (Clearwater Paper (CLW) -18.6%/yr, Mercer International (MERC) -52.6%/yr, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -3.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Clearwater Paper (CLW) 0.00%, Mercer International (MERC) 0.34%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 0.00%. Clearwater Paper (CLW) and Smurfit Westrock (SW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Smurfit Westrock (SW) has been the steadiest (Clearwater Paper (CLW) 62.8%, Mercer International (MERC) 110.6%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 42.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CLW, MERC and SW?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Smurfit Westrock (SW) leads on 8. 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.