IMAX vs LION vs WMG Stock Comparison

Imax, Lionsgate Studios and Warner Music Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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IMAX Imax Corp
$48.08 -5.0% 1M +43.3% 1Y
Market cap
$2.65B
P/E
19.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$483.98M
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
6 wins
LION Lionsgate Studios Corp.
$12.54 +10.4% 1M +86.1% 1Y
Market cap
$3.74B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$3.08B
Div. yield
–
Film and Television Communication Services
1 win
WMG Warner Music Group Corp.
$31.92 +15.6% 1M +7.0% 1Y
Market cap
$16.70B
P/E
17.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.30B
Div. yield
2.41%
Music Communication Services
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Imax leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Imax 6, Warner Music 4, Lionsgate Studios 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionIMAXLIONWMGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $2.65B $3.74B $16.70B WMG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 19.7x -183.8x 17.8x WMG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.7x — 22.0x IMAX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +28.1% +23.3% +12.9% IMAX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 27.7% -0.7% 9.2% IMAX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 24.1% 0.0% 13.6% IMAX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 6.6x 2.9x WMG
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — — 2.41% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +43.3% +86.1% +7.0% LION
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +18.3%/yr — -7.9%/yr IMAX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 43.6% 49.3% 35.5% WMG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 40/100 52/100 IMAX

Percentile Scorecard

IMAXLIONWMG

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

AxisIMAXLIONWMG
Valuation 57 #88 of 204 40 #74 of 123 34 #82 of 123
Growth 96 #8 of 191 99 #2 of 109 81 #22 of 109
Profitability 94 #13 of 189 37 #68 of 107 81 #21 of 107
Financial Health 78 #49 of 221 12 #116 of 131 29 #93 of 131
Shareholder Returns 13 #138 of 159 15 #65 of 76 35 #50 of 76
Overall 68 40 52
  • IMAX ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • LION ranked among 135 companies in Communication Services
  • WMG ranked among 135 companies in Communication Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodIMAXLIONWMGSPY
1 month -5.0%+10.4%+15.6% -5.9%
3 months -3.3%-3.2%+20.7% -4.6%
6 months +34.9%+1.3%+2.8% +0.2%
Year to date +30.1%+37.3%+4.1% +7.5%
1 year +43.3%+86.1%+7.0% +8.2%
3 years +168.9%+18.9%-2.1% +68.3%
3 years, per year +39.1%+5.9%-0.7% +19.0%
5 years +131.7%—-33.8% +56.5%
5 years, per year +18.3%—-7.9% +9.4%
10 years +54.8%—— +251.5%
10 years, per year +4.5%—— +13.4%

Risk

MeasureIMAXLIONWMGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 43.6%49.3%35.5% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 37.7%39.8%36.2% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.320.770.48 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.991.750.20 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -42.3%-55.4%-54.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -14.7%-23.5%-8.1% -5.9%
52-week high $56.35$16.40$34.72 $779.14
52-week low $33.09$6.64$23.65 $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.

MultipleIMAXLIONWMG
P/E now vs peer median 19.7xmedian 23.4x -183.8xmedian 14.9x 17.8xmedian 14.9x
P/S now vs peer median 5.5xmedian 1.7x 1.2xmedian 0.9x 2.3xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.9xmedian 13.4x 23.0xmedian 8.5x 14.6xmedian 8.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 18.2xmedian 21.9x 25.2xmedian 8.7x 20.0xmedian 8.7x
P/B now vs peer median 4.5xmedian 2.1x -3.0xmedian 1.6x 17.5xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.28median 1.02 —median 0.43 1.13median 0.43

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 monthsIMAXLIONWMG
Revenue $483.98M $3.08B $7.30B
Gross profit $307.15M – $3.34B
Operating income $129.71M $208.30M $1.00B
Net income $141.58M -$20.90M $672.00M
Free cash flow $145.98M $148.30M $836.00M
R&D $6.81M – –
EPS (diluted) $2.31 $-0.07 $1.28
Cash & equivalents $207.92M $358.50M $618.00M
Total debt – $1.86B $4.71B
Shares (diluted) 58.01M 297.60M 524.42M
Enterprise value $2.09B $2.45B $14.19B

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
MetricIMAXLIONWMG
P/E 19.7x -183.8x 17.8x
P/FCF 18.2x 25.2x 20.0x
P/Operating cash flow 17.5x 23.1x 17.8x
P/S 5.5x 1.2x 2.3x
P/B 4.5x -3.0x 17.5x
P/Tangible book 4.7x -2.9x -7.8x
EV/EBITDA 11.9x 23.0x 14.6x
EV/EBIT 18.9x 25.1x 20.8x
EV/Revenue 5.1x 1.7x 2.8x
EV/FCF 16.8x 35.3x 24.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.1x 32.4x 22.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.28 – 1.13

Growth

14 metrics
MetricIMAXLIONWMG
Revenue growth (1Y) 28.1% 23.3% 12.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.8% – 7.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 38.1% – 10.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.9% – 5.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) 86.3% 328.6% 44.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 32.9% – 10.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 183.9% 94.2% 126.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 66.1% – 16.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 224.8% 94.5% 62.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 71.6% – 15.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 38.8% 216.9% 25.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 28.5% – 7.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 49.2% 199.0% 37.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 30.5% – 10.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricIMAXLIONWMG
Gross margin 63.5% – 45.8%
EBITDA margin 42.5% 7.4% 19.5%
Operating margin 26.8% 6.8% 13.7%
Pretax margin 22.4% 0.0% 12.0%
Net margin 27.7% -0.7% 9.2%
FCF margin 30.2% 4.8% 11.4%
Operating cash flow margin 31.3% 5.2% 12.9%
Return on equity 27.3% – 74.2%
Return on assets 14.5% -0.3% 6.2%
Return on invested capital 24.1% 0.0% 13.6%
Return on capital employed – 10.8% 16.1%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.6x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x -7.7x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 6.3% 3.8% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricIMAXLIONWMG
Debt / assets – 35.2% 43.9%
Debt / equity – -1.5x 4.9x
Net debt / EBITDA – 6.6x 2.9x
Debt / FCF – 12.5x 5.6x
Liabilities / assets 42.8% 123.6% 91.1%
Equity / assets 57.2% -23.6% 8.9%
Interest coverage 17.4x 0.9x –
Current ratio – 0.4x 0.7x
Quick ratio – 0.3x 0.5x
Cash ratio – 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score – -0.41 1.74

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricIMAXLIONWMG
Dividend yield – – 2.4%
Net buyback yield -1.1% -0.2% 0.4%
Shareholder yield -1.1% -0.2% 2.8%
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.

ConsensusIMAXLIONWMG
Forward P/E 20.7xFY2026 – 22.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.32FY2026 – $1.45FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +60.0%FY2026 – +110.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +4.7% – +17.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $499.59MFY2026 – $7.63BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +21.8%FY2026 – +13.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -5.4% – -1.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersIMAXLIONWMG
Held by institutions 91.5% 89.1% 100.0%
Institutions holding 257 291 341
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.5% +1.2% +3.2%
Institutions buying 144 155 204
Institutions selling 69 85 103
Buyers to sellers 2.09 1.82 1.98

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.

IMAXLIONWMG
IMAX 1.00 0.19 0.17
LION 0.19 1.00 0.19
WMG 0.17 0.19 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, IMAX, LION and WMG?

Warner Music (WMG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Imax (IMAX) $2.65B, Lionsgate Studios (LION) $3.74B, Warner Music (WMG) $16.70B.

Which stock is cheaper, IMAX, LION and WMG?

Warner Music (WMG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Imax (IMAX) 19.7x, Lionsgate Studios (LION) -183.8x, Warner Music (WMG) 17.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Imax (IMAX) is cheapest (Imax (IMAX) 20.7x, Warner Music (WMG) 22.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Imax (IMAX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Imax (IMAX) +28.1%, Lionsgate Studios (LION) +23.3%, Warner Music (WMG) +12.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Imax (IMAX) has the highest net margin (Imax (IMAX) 27.7%, Lionsgate Studios (LION) -0.7%, Warner Music (WMG) 9.2%). On return on invested capital, Imax (IMAX) leads (Imax (IMAX) 24.1%, Lionsgate Studios (LION) 0.0%, Warner Music (WMG) 13.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Lionsgate Studios (LION) returned the most: Imax (IMAX) +43.3%, Lionsgate Studios (LION) +86.1%, Warner Music (WMG) +7.0%. Over five years, Imax (IMAX) compounded fastest (Imax (IMAX) +18.3%/yr, Warner Music (WMG) -7.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Warner Music (WMG) 2.41%. Imax (IMAX) and Lionsgate Studios (LION) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Warner Music (WMG) has been the steadiest (Imax (IMAX) 43.6%, Lionsgate Studios (LION) 49.3%, Warner Music (WMG) 35.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, IMAX, LION and WMG?

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