IP vs SW vs GPK Stock Comparison

International Paper, Smurfit Westrock and Graphic Packaging Holding Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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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
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Smurfit Westrock leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Smurfit Westrock 4, International Paper 4, Graphic Packaging Holding 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionIPSWGPKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $17.68B $22.12B $2.60B SW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -5.1x 44.5x 13.4x GPK
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.3x 18.4x 13.1x GPK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +25.4% +1.7% +0.0% IP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -14.2% 1.6% 2.2% GPK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 7.5% 3.1% 4.3% IP
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.7x 3.2x 5.1x IP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -32.4% -2.7% -50.4% SW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -9.0%/yr -3.0%/yr -15.8%/yr SW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 45.0% 44.1% 47.4% SW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 61/100 53/100 51/100 IP

Percentile Scorecard

IPSWGPK

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

AxisIPSWGPK
Valuation 53 #8 of 16 67 #6 of 16 100 #1 of 16
Growth 40 #10 of 16 67 #6 of 16 0 #16 of 16
Profitability 47 #9 of 16 40 #10 of 16 53 #8 of 16
Financial Health 75 #5 of 17 69 #6 of 17 19 #14 of 17
Shareholder Returns 92 #2 of 14 23 #11 of 14 85 #3 of 14
Overall 61 53 51
  • IP ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • SW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • GPK ranked among 17 companies in Packaging

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodIPSWGPKSPY
1 month -7.1%-10.0%-9.3% -1.0%
3 months -21.4%-13.8%-20.4% +2.9%
6 months +1.6%+4.7%-6.2% +6.4%
Year to date -15.8%+8.2%-41.8% +11.4%
1 year -32.4%-2.7%-50.4% +13.1%
3 years -0.3%+32.4%-56.9% +79.4%
3 years, per year -0.1%+9.8%-24.5% +21.5%
5 years -37.5%-14.1%-57.5% +67.7%
5 years, per year -9.0%-3.0%-15.8% +10.9%
10 years -29.4%+91.0%-35.1% +255.2%
10 years, per year -3.4%+6.7%-4.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureIPSWGPKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 45.0%44.1%47.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 44.3%40.4%47.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.241.450.87 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.72-0.06-1.06 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -51.1%-55.1%-73.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -32.6%-19.3%-50.4% -2.5%
52-week high $49.19$51.84$17.68 $779.14
52-week low $29.38$32.79$8.24 $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.

MultipleIPSWGPK
P/E now vs peer median -5.1xmedian 18.2x 44.1xmedian 18.2x 13.4xmedian 18.2x
P/S now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 0.7x 0.7xmedian 0.7x 0.3xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 5.9xmedian 9.5x 8.4xmedian 9.5x 7.5xmedian 9.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 42.3xmedian 15.7x 21.6xmedian 15.7x 13.7xmedian 15.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 1.4x 1.2xmedian 1.4x 0.8xmedian 1.4x
PEG now vs peer median 0.08median 0.83 —median 0.83 -0.39median 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 monthsIPSWGPK
Revenue $24.20B $31.33B $8.64B
Gross profit $7.21B $5.62B $1.34B
Operating income $2.13B $1.48B $504.00M
Net income -$3.44B $497.00M $194.00M
Free cash flow $492.00M $1.02B $189.00M
EPS (diluted) $-6.49 $0.94 $0.65
Cash & equivalents $726.00M $677.00M $205.00M
Total debt $34.22B $14.16B $5.67B
Shares (diluted) 529.50M 526.00M 296.70M
Enterprise value $13.58B $19.02B $1.82B

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
MetricIPSWGPK
P/E -5.1x 44.1x 13.4x
P/FCF 42.3x 21.6x 13.7x
P/Operating cash flow 7.9x 6.7x 3.3x
P/S 0.9x 0.7x 0.3x
P/B 1.4x 1.2x 0.8x
P/Tangible book 2.0x 1.3x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA 5.9x 8.4x 7.5x
EV/EBIT 13.8x 24.0x 16.0x
EV/Revenue 1.2x 1.1x 0.9x
EV/FCF 59.5x 34.9x 42.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 11.1x 10.7x 10.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.08 – -0.39

Growth

14 metrics
MetricIPSWGPK
Revenue growth (1Y) 25.4% 1.7% 0.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 6.1% – -3.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 32.6% -4.5% -26.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 7.9% – -13.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 6.8% 17.2% -45.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -13.8% – -24.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -12,633% 41.2% -63.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -74.4% – -35.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -12,708% 40.1% -63.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -60.9% – -34.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 139.3% 52.3% 3.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 8.6% – -10.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 516.9% 1,094% 147.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -18.3% – -28.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricIPSWGPK
Gross margin 29.8% 17.9% 15.5%
EBITDA margin 20.4% 13.5% 12.4%
Operating margin 8.8% 4.7% 5.8%
Pretax margin -13.5% 2.3% 2.9%
Net margin -14.2% 1.6% 2.2%
FCF margin 2.0% 3.2% 2.2%
Operating cash flow margin 10.9% 10.5% 9.2%
Return on equity -23.5% 2.7% 6.0%
Return on assets -9.4% 1.1% 1.7%
Return on invested capital 7.5% 3.1% 4.3%
Return on capital employed 7.3% 3.9% 5.3%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.7x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.8x 6.6x 4.1x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.4% 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricIPSWGPK
Debt / assets 25.2% 31.3% 48.6%
Debt / equity 0.6x 0.8x 1.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.7x 3.2x 5.1x
Debt / FCF 18.7x 14.0x 30.0x
Liabilities / assets 60.4% 60.0% 72.2%
Equity / assets 39.6% 40.0% 27.8%
Interest coverage 6.2x – 2.0x
Current ratio 1.1x 1.4x 1.4x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.7x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 1.62 1.44 1.34

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricIPSWGPK
Dividend yield 5.6% 4.3% 5.0%
Net buyback yield 0.2% -0.1% –
Shareholder yield 5.7% 4.2% 5.0%
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.

ConsensusIPSWGPK
Forward P/E 25.3xFY2026 18.4xFY2026 13.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.31FY2026 $2.27FY2026 $0.67FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +10.7%FY2026 -62.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +121.4% +66.5% +43.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $22.99BFY2026 $33.69BFY2026 $8.23BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -2.7%FY2026 +8.1%FY2026 -4.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +17.1% +8.8% +0.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersIPSWGPK
Held by institutions 85.3% 95.9% 100.0%
Institutions holding 855 640 499
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.9% +5.7% +5.3%
Institutions buying 453 373 322
Institutions selling 282 191 130
Buyers to sellers 1.61 1.95 2.48

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.

IPSWGPK
IP 1.00 0.81 0.43
SW 0.81 1.00 0.52
GPK 0.43 0.52 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, IP, SW and GPK?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) is the largest by market capitalisation: International Paper (IP) $17.68B, Smurfit Westrock (SW) $22.12B, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) $2.60B.

Which stock is cheaper, IP, SW and GPK?

Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (International Paper (IP) -5.1x, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 44.5x, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 13.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) is cheapest (International Paper (IP) 25.3x, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 18.4x, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 13.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

International Paper (IP) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: International Paper (IP) +25.4%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) +1.7%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) +0.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) has the highest net margin (International Paper (IP) -14.2%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 1.6%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 2.2%). On return on invested capital, International Paper (IP) leads (International Paper (IP) 7.5%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 3.1%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 4.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Smurfit Westrock (SW) returned the most: International Paper (IP) -32.4%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -2.7%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) -50.4%. Over five years, Smurfit Westrock (SW) compounded fastest (International Paper (IP) -9.0%/yr, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -3.0%/yr, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) -15.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Smurfit Westrock (SW) has been the steadiest (International Paper (IP) 45.0%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 44.1%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 47.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 4. 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.