HFUS vs QUAD vs IZEA Stock Comparison

Hartford Creative, Quad and IZEA Worldwide Prices as of Oct 22, 2026 Peers: Industry group
QUAD Quad/Graphics, Inc.
$9.44 +2.1% 1M +59.7% 1Y
Market cap
$450.00M
P/E
14.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.38B
Div. yield
–
Advertising Agencies Communication Services
5 wins
IZEA IZEA Worldwide, Inc.
$2.29 -10.9% 1M -56.3% 1Y
Market cap
$40.49M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$26.52M
Div. yield
–
Advertising Agencies Communication Services

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Quad leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Quad 5, Hartford Creative 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHFUSQUADIZEALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $50.05M $450.00M $40.49M QUAD
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 37.0x 14.4x -16.3x QUAD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 7.5x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -0.4% -8.0% -28.2% HFUS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 56.1% 1.3% -9.4% HFUS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 60.0% 14.0% — HFUS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 2.3x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -27.3% +59.7% -56.3% QUAD
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +25.6%/yr +17.0%/yr -23.9%/yr HFUS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 111.8% 42.9% 47.3% QUAD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 42/100 64/100 46/100 QUAD

Percentile Scorecard

HFUSQUADIZEA

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

AxisHFUSQUADIZEA
Valuation 8 #50 of 54 89 #7 of 54 36 #35 of 54
Growth 46 #25 of 45 64 #17 of 45 57 #20 of 45
Profitability 81 #9 of 43 71 #13 of 43 19 #35 of 43
Financial Health 34 #41 of 62 38 #39 of 62 92 #6 of 62
Shareholder Returns – 60 #11 of 26 28 #19 of 26
Overall 42 64 46
  • HFUS ranked among 63 companies in Advertising and Media
  • QUAD ranked among 63 companies in Advertising and Media
  • IZEA ranked among 63 companies in Advertising and Media

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodHFUSQUADIZEASPY
1 month -26.2%+2.1%-10.9% -1.0%
3 months -50.0%+12.9%-33.0% +2.9%
6 months -44.3%+19.6%-46.7% +6.4%
Year to date -60.0%+50.6%-47.7% +11.4%
1 year -27.3%+59.7%-56.3% +13.1%
3 years -43.2%+96.3%+6.5% +79.4%
3 years, per year -17.2%+25.2%+2.1% +21.5%
5 years +212.5%+119.0%-74.4% +67.7%
5 years, per year +25.6%+17.0%-23.9% +10.9%
10 years -66.7%-62.1%-89.8% +255.2%
10 years, per year -10.4%-9.2%-20.4% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureHFUSQUADIZEASPY
Volatility, 1Y 111.8%42.9%47.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 234.2%46.4%48.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.130.420.86 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.241.39-1.19 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -94.1%-69.4%-82.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -62.7%-13.0%-57.8% -2.5%
52-week high $5.36$10.85$5.43 $779.14
52-week low $2.00$5.18$2.29 $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.

MultipleHFUSQUADIZEA
P/E now vs peer median 37.0xmedian 18.8x 14.5xmedian 18.8x -16.1xmedian 18.8x
P/S now vs peer median 20.8xmedian 0.7x 0.2xmedian 0.7x 1.5xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 11.1x 5.4xmedian 11.1x 1.9xmedian 11.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median -105.0xmedian 9.4x 10.5xmedian 9.4x -25.8xmedian 9.4x
P/B now vs peer median 53.6xmedian 1.6x 4.3xmedian 1.6x 0.8xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.25median 0.44 0.31median 0.44 -0.60median 0.44

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 monthsHFUSQUADIZEA
Revenue $2.41M $2.38B $26.52M
Gross profit $2.43M $514.40M $11.84M
Operating income $1.64M $96.30M -$4.18M
Net income $1.35M $31.20M -$2.48M
Free cash flow -$476.73K $50.40M -$1.55M
EPS (diluted) $0.05 $0.62 $-0.14
Cash & equivalents $160.42K $7.40M $46.60M
Total debt $5.73M $1.76B –
Shares (diluted) 25.03M 50.00M 17.45M
Enterprise value $49.62M $366.10M -$154.90M

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
MetricHFUSQUADIZEA
P/E 37.0x 14.5x -16.1x
P/FCF -105.0x 10.5x -25.8x
P/Operating cash flow -105.0x 5.5x -25.8x
P/S 20.8x 0.2x 1.5x
P/B 53.6x 4.3x 0.8x
P/Tangible book 53.6x 4.7x 0.9x
EV/EBITDA – 5.4x 1.9x
EV/EBIT 31.4x 9.6x 1.6x
EV/Revenue 21.4x 0.4x -0.3x
EV/FCF -108.3x 18.3x 4.3x
EV/Operating cash flow -108.3x 9.6x 4.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.25 0.31 -0.60

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHFUSQUADIZEA
Revenue growth (1Y) -0.4% -8.0% -28.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 314.8% -9.3% -12.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.1% -8.0% -26.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – -5.8% -6.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) -0.7% 100.2% 66.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 143.6% 31.4% 18.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -6.6% 318.2% 79.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 59.9% 47.6% 24.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -6.6% 307.7% 79.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 149.9% 47.3% 27.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -149.4% -19.2% 47.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -90.5% -18.5% 12.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -149.4% -29.6% 49.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -79.4% -22.0% 10.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHFUSQUADIZEA
Gross margin 100.7% 21.6% 44.7%
EBITDA margin – 7.2% -13.3%
Operating margin 68.2% 4.1% -15.8%
Pretax margin 67.8% 1.7% -10.8%
Net margin 56.1% 1.3% -9.4%
FCF margin -19.8% 2.1% -5.8%
Operating cash flow margin -19.8% 4.1% -5.8%
Return on equity 209.1% 24.8% -6.0%
Return on assets 34.8% 2.6% -5.3%
Return on invested capital 60.0% 14.0% –
Return on capital employed 255.2% 15.0% -8.7%
Asset turnover 0.6x 2.0x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.4x 3.1x 0.6x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.3% 6.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHFUSQUADIZEA
Debt / assets 41.3% 33.4% –
Debt / equity 1.8x 3.2x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 2.3x –
Debt / FCF -3.6x 7.9x –
Liabilities / assets 77.6% 89.6% 12.2%
Equity / assets 22.4% 10.4% 87.8%
Interest coverage – 2.2x -720.6x
Current ratio 1.2x 0.9x 7.8x
Quick ratio 0.1x 0.5x 7.1x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.0x 7.1x
Altman Z-score 9.88 1.75 2.13

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHFUSQUADIZEA
Dividend yield – 4.0% –
Net buyback yield – 0.7% 1.2%
Shareholder yield – 4.6% 1.2%
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.

ConsensusHFUSQUADIZEA
Forward P/E – 7.5xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year – $1.26FY2026 $-0.01FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +24.8%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after – +15.1% –
Revenue, next fiscal year – $2.24BFY2026 $33.64MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – -7.3%FY2026 +7.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – -3.6% +18.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHFUSQUADIZEA
Held by institutions – 41.0% 9.4%
Institutions holding – 146 31
Change in shares held, QoQ – +2.1% -2.3%
Institutions buying – 83 16
Institutions selling – 40 8
Buyers to sellers – 2.08 2.00

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.

HFUSQUADIZEA
HFUS 1.00 0.06 -0.01
QUAD 0.06 1.00 0.05
IZEA -0.01 0.05 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HFUS, QUAD and IZEA?

Quad (QUAD) is the largest by market capitalisation: Hartford Creative (HFUS) $50.05M, Quad (QUAD) $450.00M, IZEA Worldwide (IZEA) $40.49M.

Which stock is cheaper, HFUS, QUAD and IZEA?

Quad (QUAD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Hartford Creative (HFUS) 37.0x, Quad (QUAD) 14.4x, IZEA Worldwide (IZEA) -16.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Hartford Creative (HFUS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Hartford Creative (HFUS) -0.4%, Quad (QUAD) -8.0%, IZEA Worldwide (IZEA) -28.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Hartford Creative (HFUS) has the highest net margin (Hartford Creative (HFUS) 56.1%, Quad (QUAD) 1.3%, IZEA Worldwide (IZEA) -9.4%). On return on invested capital, Hartford Creative (HFUS) leads (Hartford Creative (HFUS) 60.0%, Quad (QUAD) 14.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Quad (QUAD) returned the most: Hartford Creative (HFUS) -27.3%, Quad (QUAD) +59.7%, IZEA Worldwide (IZEA) -56.3%. Over five years, Hartford Creative (HFUS) compounded fastest (Hartford Creative (HFUS) +25.6%/yr, Quad (QUAD) +17.0%/yr, IZEA Worldwide (IZEA) -23.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Quad (QUAD) has been the steadiest (Hartford Creative (HFUS) 111.8%, Quad (QUAD) 42.9%, IZEA Worldwide (IZEA) 47.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, HFUS, QUAD and IZEA?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Quad (QUAD) leads on 5. 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.