IFF vs LWLG vs NEU Stock Comparison

International Flavors & Fragrances, Lightwave Logic and Newmarket Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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LWLG Lightwave Logic, Inc.
$4.61 -19.1% 1M -2.1% 1Y
Market cap
$710.71M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
NEU Newmarket Corp
$756.74 -18.2% 1M -1.5% 1Y
Market cap
$6.96B
P/E
15.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.77B
Div. yield
1.59%
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
9 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Newmarket leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (Newmarket 9, International Flavors & Fragrances 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionIFFLWLGNEULeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $24.16B $710.71M $6.96B IFF
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 34.7x — 15.2x NEU
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 28.8x — 17.0x NEU
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -4.6% — +0.9% NEU
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 7.0% — 16.5% NEU
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.0% — 16.0% NEU
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.0x — 1.1x NEU
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.69% — 1.59% IFF
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +50.3% -2.1% -1.5% IFF
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.2%/yr -16.6%/yr +17.5%/yr NEU
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.2% 118.8% 33.1% NEU
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 — 70/100 NEU

Percentile Scorecard

IFFLWLGNEU

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

AxisIFFLWLGNEU
Valuation 40 #57 of 94 – 56 #42 of 94
Growth 82 #17 of 92 – 44 #52 of 92
Profitability 59 #37 of 89 – 93 #7 of 89
Financial Health 44 #55 of 97 – 73 #27 of 97
Shareholder Returns 25 #54 of 72 4 #69 of 72 86 #11 of 72
Overall 50 – 70
  • IFF ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • LWLG ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • NEU ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodIFFLWLGNEUSPY
1 month +14.8%-19.1%-18.2% -2.3%
3 months +17.4%-32.4%-11.5% -0.7%
6 months +35.0%-70.8%+11.3% +4.8%
Year to date +40.4%+42.3%+10.1% +10.3%
1 year +50.3%-2.1%-1.5% +10.3%
3 years +30.1%-4.8%+54.3% +73.0%
3 years, per year +9.2%-1.6%+15.6% +20.1%
5 years -34.9%-59.7%+123.7% +61.9%
5 years, per year -8.2%-16.6%+17.5% +10.1%
10 years -27.6%+694.8%+92.8% +258.6%
10 years, per year -3.2%+23.0%+6.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureIFFLWLGNEUSPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.2%118.8%33.1% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.0%113.7%37.5% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.633.590.73 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.43-0.02-0.04 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -61.1%-95.8%-33.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-74.7%-21.3% -3.5%
52-week high $94.62$18.22$961.92 $779.14
52-week low $61.49$2.97$584.66 $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.

MultipleIFFLWLGNEU
P/E now vs peer median 34.7xmedian 20.8x —median 20.8x 15.2xmedian 20.8x
P/S now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 1.4x —median 1.4x 2.5xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.2xmedian 12.6x —median 12.6x 11.2xmedian 12.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 44.7xmedian 15.5x —median 15.5x 18.2xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 1.7x —median 1.7x 3.6xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 1.07median 1.78 —median 1.78 2.47median 1.78

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 monthsIFFLWLGNEU
Revenue $9.98B – $2.77B
Gross profit $3.74B – $876.45M
Operating income $754.00M – $559.87M
Net income $295.00M – $457.21M
Free cash flow $540.00M – $383.41M
R&D $684.00M – $124.05M
EPS (diluted) $2.71 – $49.92
Cash & equivalents $569.00M – $77.32M
Total debt $5.70B – $830.05M
Shares (diluted) 257.00M 153.48M 9.16M
Enterprise value $21.85B $710.71M $6.64B

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
MetricIFFLWLGNEU
P/E 34.7x – 15.2x
P/FCF 44.7x – 18.2x
P/Operating cash flow 20.8x – 13.9x
P/S 2.4x – 2.5x
P/B 1.7x – 3.6x
P/Tangible book 2.4x – 3.6x
EV/EBITDA 17.2x – 11.2x
EV/EBIT 38.8x – 13.8x
EV/Revenue 2.9x – 2.8x
EV/FCF 54.2x – 20.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 25.2x – 15.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.07 – 2.47

Growth

14 metrics
MetricIFFLWLGNEU
Revenue growth (1Y) -4.6% – 0.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -5.6% – 0.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -3.8% – 0.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -0.2% – 4.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 295.8% – -1.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 35.2% – 4.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 170.2% – 2.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 28.8% – 4.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 900.0% – 4.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 32.3% – 6.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 5.4% – -17.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.2% – 0.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -4.4% – -29.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 26.8% – -5.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricIFFLWLGNEU
Gross margin 37.5% – 31.7%
EBITDA margin 17.1% – 24.8%
Operating margin 7.6% – 20.2%
Pretax margin 3.5% – 21.2%
Net margin 7.0% – 16.5%
FCF margin 5.4% – 13.8%
Operating cash flow margin 11.6% – 18.1%
Return on equity 2.1% – 24.3%
Return on assets 1.2% – 12.6%
Return on invested capital 3.0% – 16.0%
Return on capital employed 3.6% – 17.7%
Asset turnover 0.4x – 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.9x – 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricIFFLWLGNEU
Debt / assets 22.7% – 22.8%
Debt / equity 0.4x – 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.0x – 1.1x
Debt / FCF 10.6x – 2.2x
Liabilities / assets 44.3% – 47.1%
Equity / assets 55.7% – 52.9%
Interest coverage 4.0x – 15.8x
Current ratio 2.1x – 2.5x
Quick ratio 0.5x – 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.1x – 0.2x
Altman Z-score 1.83 – 4.63

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricIFFLWLGNEU
Dividend yield 1.7% – 1.6%
Net buyback yield 0.3% -8.1% 1.8%
Shareholder yield 2.0% -8.1% 3.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 138.6% – 24.4%
Payout ratio (FCF) 75.7% – 29.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) 0.0% – 9.5%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -20.7% – 9.9%

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.

ConsensusIFFLWLGNEU
Forward P/E 28.8xFY2026 – 17.0xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $3.28FY2026 – $44.59FY2027
EPS growth, next FY -21.9%FY2026 – +0.3%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +23.5% – –
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.10BFY2026 – $2.30BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -25.7%FY2026 – -15.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -8.1% – +20.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersIFFLWLGNEU
Held by institutions 100.0% 37.8% 65.3%
Institutions holding 755 174 424
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.0% +39.5% +3.9%
Institutions buying 411 122 219
Institutions selling 226 30 139
Buyers to sellers 1.82 4.07 1.58

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.

IFFLWLGNEU
IFF 1.00 -0.06 0.03
LWLG -0.06 1.00 0.08
NEU 0.03 0.08 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, IFF, LWLG and NEU?

International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) is the largest by market capitalisation: International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) $24.16B, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) $710.71M, Newmarket (NEU) $6.96B.

Which stock is cheaper, IFF, LWLG and NEU?

Newmarket (NEU) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 34.7x, Newmarket (NEU) 15.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Newmarket (NEU) is cheapest (International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 28.8x, Newmarket (NEU) 17.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Newmarket (NEU) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) -4.6%, Newmarket (NEU) +0.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Newmarket (NEU) has the highest net margin (International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 7.0%, Newmarket (NEU) 16.5%). On return on invested capital, Newmarket (NEU) leads (International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 3.0%, Newmarket (NEU) 16.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) returned the most: International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) +50.3%, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) -2.1%, Newmarket (NEU) -1.5%. Over five years, Newmarket (NEU) compounded fastest (International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) -8.2%/yr, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) -16.6%/yr, Newmarket (NEU) +17.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) has the highest dividend yield: International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 1.69%, Newmarket (NEU) 1.59%. Lightwave Logic (LWLG) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Newmarket (NEU) has been the steadiest (International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 35.2%, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) 118.8%, Newmarket (NEU) 33.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, IFF, LWLG and NEU?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Newmarket (NEU) leads on 9. 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.