CLW vs SW vs IP Stock Comparison

Clearwater Paper, Smurfit Westrock and International Paper Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CLW Clearwater Paper Corp
$19.32 -9.5% 1M -3.2% 1Y
Market cap
$308.01M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$1.52B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
SW Smurfit Westrock plc
$41.85 -10.0% 1M -2.7% 1Y
Market cap
$22.12B
P/E
44.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$31.33B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
6 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Smurfit Westrock leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Smurfit Westrock 6, International Paper 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCLWSWIPLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $308.01M $22.12B $17.68B SW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -6.2x 44.5x -5.1x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 18.4x 25.3x SW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -1.9% +1.7% +25.4% IP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -3.2% 1.6% -14.2% SW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -5.7% 3.1% 7.5% IP
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 20.6x 3.2x 1.7x IP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -3.2% -2.7% -32.4% SW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -14.9%/yr -3.0%/yr -9.0%/yr SW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 52.7% 44.1% 45.0% SW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 57/100 53/100 61/100 IP

Percentile Scorecard

CLWSWIP

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

AxisCLWSWIP
Valuation 93 #2 of 16 67 #6 of 16 53 #8 of 16
Growth 47 #9 of 16 67 #6 of 16 40 #10 of 16
Profitability 33 #11 of 16 40 #10 of 16 47 #9 of 16
Financial Health 81 #4 of 17 69 #6 of 17 75 #5 of 17
Shareholder Returns 31 #10 of 14 23 #11 of 14 92 #2 of 14
Overall 57 53 61
  • CLW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • SW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • IP ranked among 17 companies in Packaging

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCLWSWIPSPY
1 month -9.5%-10.0%-7.1% -1.0%
3 months +14.8%-13.8%-21.4% +2.9%
6 months +32.1%+4.7%+1.6% +6.4%
Year to date +11.0%+8.2%-15.8% +11.4%
1 year -3.2%-2.7%-32.4% +13.1%
3 years -43.3%+32.4%-0.3% +79.4%
3 years, per year -17.2%+9.8%-0.1% +21.5%
5 years -55.5%-14.1%-37.5% +67.7%
5 years, per year -14.9%-3.0%-9.0% +10.9%
10 years -65.5%+91.0%-29.4% +255.2%
10 years, per year -10.1%+6.7%-3.4% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCLWSWIPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 52.7%44.1%45.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 50.5%40.4%44.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.901.451.24 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.06-0.06-0.72 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -77.8%-55.1%-51.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -17.1%-19.3%-32.6% -2.5%
52-week high $23.30$51.84$49.19 $779.14
52-week low $12.44$32.79$29.38 $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.

MultipleCLWSWIP
P/E now vs peer median -6.3xmedian 18.2x 44.1xmedian 18.2x -5.1xmedian 18.2x
P/S now vs peer median 0.2xmedian 0.7x 0.7xmedian 0.7x 0.9xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 44.8xmedian 9.5x 8.4xmedian 9.5x 5.9xmedian 9.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 5.5xmedian 15.7x 21.6xmedian 15.7x 42.3xmedian 15.7x
P/B now vs peer median 0.4xmedian 1.4x 1.2xmedian 1.4x 1.4xmedian 1.4x
PEG now vs peer median 0.16median 0.83 —median 0.83 0.08median 0.83

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 monthsCLWSWIP
Revenue $1.52B $31.33B $24.20B
Gross profit $24.60M $5.62B $7.21B
Operating income -$82.20M $1.48B $2.13B
Net income -$49.30M $497.00M -$3.44B
Free cash flow $56.60M $1.02B $492.00M
EPS (diluted) $-3.06 $0.94 $-6.49
Cash & equivalents $95.40M $677.00M $726.00M
Total debt $361.10M $14.16B $34.22B
Shares (diluted) 16.13M 526.00M 529.50M
Enterprise value $111.01M $19.02B $13.58B

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
MetricCLWSWIP
P/E -6.3x 44.1x -5.1x
P/FCF 5.5x 21.6x 42.3x
P/Operating cash flow 2.9x 6.7x 7.9x
P/S 0.2x 0.7x 0.9x
P/B 0.4x 1.2x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 0.4x 1.3x 2.0x
EV/EBITDA 44.8x 8.4x 5.9x
EV/EBIT -7.0x 24.0x 13.8x
EV/Revenue 0.4x 1.1x 1.2x
EV/FCF 10.2x 34.9x 59.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 5.3x 10.7x 11.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.16 – 0.08

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCLWSWIP
Revenue growth (1Y) -1.9% 1.7% 25.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 25.5% – 6.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -80.2% -4.5% 32.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 28.3% – 7.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) -647.3% 17.2% 6.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -38.8% – -13.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -124.5% 41.2% -12,633%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -39.6% – -74.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -124.7% 40.1% -12,708%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -40.3% – -60.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 337.9% 52.3% 139.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 17.1% – 8.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 131.2% 1,094% 516.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 63.3% – -18.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCLWSWIP
Gross margin 1.6% 17.9% 29.8%
EBITDA margin 0.8% 13.5% 20.4%
Operating margin -5.4% 4.7% 8.8%
Pretax margin -6.9% 2.3% -13.5%
Net margin -3.2% 1.6% -14.2%
FCF margin 3.7% 3.2% 2.0%
Operating cash flow margin 7.1% 10.5% 10.9%
Return on equity -6.1% 2.7% -23.5%
Return on assets -3.1% 1.1% -9.4%
Return on invested capital -5.7% 3.1% 7.5%
Return on capital employed -6.1% 3.9% 7.3%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.7x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -2.2x 6.6x -0.8x
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% 0.4% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCLWSWIP
Debt / assets 23.0% 31.3% 25.2%
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.8x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 20.6x 3.2x 1.7x
Debt / FCF 6.4x 14.0x 18.7x
Liabilities / assets 49.5% 60.0% 60.4%
Equity / assets 50.5% 40.0% 39.6%
Interest coverage – – 6.2x
Current ratio 2.3x 1.4x 1.1x
Quick ratio 1.1x 0.7x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 2.00 1.44 1.62

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCLWSWIP
Dividend yield – 4.3% 5.6%
Net buyback yield 0.7% -0.1% 0.2%
Shareholder yield 0.7% 4.2% 5.7%
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.

ConsensusCLWSWIP
Forward P/E – 18.4xFY2026 25.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-3.47FY2026 $2.27FY2026 $1.31FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +10.7%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after – +66.5% +121.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.56BFY2026 $33.69BFY2026 $22.99BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.2%FY2026 +8.1%FY2026 -2.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.0% +8.8% +17.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCLWSWIP
Held by institutions 88.7% 95.9% 85.3%
Institutions holding 134 640 855
Change in shares held, QoQ +9.9% +5.7% +4.9%
Institutions buying 85 373 453
Institutions selling 33 191 282
Buyers to sellers 2.58 1.95 1.61

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.

CLWSWIP
CLW 1.00 0.41 0.30
SW 0.41 1.00 0.81
IP 0.30 0.81 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CLW, SW and IP?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Clearwater Paper (CLW) $308.01M, Smurfit Westrock (SW) $22.12B, International Paper (IP) $17.68B.

Which company is growing faster?

International Paper (IP) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Clearwater Paper (CLW) -1.9%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) +1.7%, International Paper (IP) +25.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) has the highest net margin (Clearwater Paper (CLW) -3.2%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 1.6%, International Paper (IP) -14.2%). On return on invested capital, International Paper (IP) leads (Clearwater Paper (CLW) -5.7%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 3.1%, International Paper (IP) 7.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Smurfit Westrock (SW) returned the most: Clearwater Paper (CLW) -3.2%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -2.7%, International Paper (IP) -32.4%. Over five years, Smurfit Westrock (SW) compounded fastest (Clearwater Paper (CLW) -14.9%/yr, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -3.0%/yr, International Paper (IP) -9.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Smurfit Westrock (SW) has been the steadiest (Clearwater Paper (CLW) 52.7%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 44.1%, International Paper (IP) 45.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 6. 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.