LION vs VSNT vs IMAX Stock Comparison

Lionsgate Studios, Versant Media and Imax Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LION Lionsgate Studios Corp.
$12.17 +12.4% 1M +87.2% 1Y
Market cap
$3.56B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$2.88B
Div. yield
–
Film and Television Communication Services
2 wins
IMAX Imax Corp
$52.49 -6.4% 1M +62.9% 1Y
Market cap
$2.78B
P/E
67.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$416.08M
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Versant Media leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Versant Media 5, Imax 3, Lionsgate Studios 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionLIONVSNTIMAXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.56B $4.30B $2.78B VSNT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -30.1x 20.6x 67.9x VSNT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 7.2x 22.9x VSNT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.9% — +14.8% IMAX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -4.1% — 9.8% IMAX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 18.4% — 13.2% LION
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 9.5x — -0.8x IMAX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +87.2% — +62.9% LION
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — — +21.2%/yr –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 49.2% 41.4% 42.8% VSNT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 40/100 65/100 62/100 VSNT

Percentile Scorecard

LIONVSNTIMAX

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

AxisLIONVSNTIMAX
Valuation 36 #79 of 123 81 #11 of 53 38 #126 of 203
Growth 98 #3 of 107 – 92 #16 of 188
Profitability 40 #63 of 105 – 82 #33 of 183
Financial Health 11 #117 of 131 83 #11 of 61 83 #37 of 217
Shareholder Returns 14 #64 of 74 32 #18 of 26 15 #131 of 153
Overall 40 65 62
  • LION ranked among 134 companies in Communication Services
  • VSNT ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • IMAX ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodLIONVSNTIMAXSPY
1 month +12.4%-5.9%-6.4% -0.2%
3 months -8.2%-17.2%+11.0% +3.9%
6 months -0.4%-21.2%+42.0% +8.2%
Year to date +33.3%-31.4%+42.0% +12.9%
1 year +87.2%—+62.9% +12.3%
3 years +16.1%—+192.6% +87.4%
3 years, per year +5.1%—+43.1% +23.3%
5 years ——+161.3% +67.9%
5 years, per year ——+21.2% +10.9%
10 years ——+72.7% +261.1%
10 years, per year ——+5.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureLIONVSNTIMAXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 49.2%41.4%42.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.4%46.7%35.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.790.430.13 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.77—1.47 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -55.4%-42.2%-42.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -25.8%-35.0%-6.9% -1.2%
52-week high $16.40$47.45$56.35 $779.14
52-week low $6.23$27.42$32.22 $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.

MultipleLIONVSNTIMAX
P/E now vs peer median -30.0xmedian 16.8x 20.6xmedian 18.4x 70.5xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 1.3xmedian 1.1x 2.6xmedian 0.6x 6.9xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 32.9xmedian 9.7x —median 10.5x 18.6xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 37.2xmedian 9.2x —median 9.0x 22.7xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median -3.0xmedian 1.6x 0.5xmedian 1.5x 6.4xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.29 —median 0.44 0.65median 1.32

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 monthsLIONVSNTIMAX
Revenue $2.88B – $416.08M
Gross profit – – $248.12M
Operating income $133.20M – $83.87M
Net income -$118.80M – $47.12M
Free cash flow $97.40M – $126.59M
R&D – – $6.42M
EPS (diluted) $-0.41 – $0.72
Cash & equivalents $425.80M $1.48B $159.92M
Total debt $1.90B $2.95B $38.84M
Shares (diluted) 291.60M 141.30M 56.57M
Enterprise value $2.41B $4.30B $2.18B

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
MetricLIONVSNTIMAX
P/E -30.0x 20.6x 70.5x
P/FCF 37.2x – 22.7x
P/Operating cash flow 32.9x – 21.7x
P/S 1.3x 2.6x 6.9x
P/B -3.0x 0.5x 6.4x
P/Tangible book -3.0x 0.6x 6.9x
EV/EBITDA 32.9x – 18.6x
EV/EBIT 38.3x – 32.9x
EV/Revenue 1.8x – 6.6x
EV/FCF 52.3x – 21.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 46.3x – 20.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – – 0.65

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLIONVSNTIMAX
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.9% – 14.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – – 5.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – 20.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 9.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 2,284% – 39.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – 42.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 71.9% – 10.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – – 79.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 73.1% – 21.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – – 107.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 284.3% – 72.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 40.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 234.0% – 88.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 44.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLIONVSNTIMAX
Gross margin – – 59.6%
EBITDA margin 5.4% – 35.7%
Operating margin 4.6% – 20.2%
Pretax margin -3.3% – 15.0%
Net margin -4.1% – 9.8%
FCF margin 3.4% – 30.4%
Operating cash flow margin 3.8% – 31.9%
Return on equity – – 10.7%
Return on assets -2.2% – 5.2%
Return on invested capital 18.4% – 13.2%
Return on capital employed 6.6% – –
Asset turnover 0.5x – 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.9x – 2.8x
Stock comp / revenue 4.1% – 6.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLIONVSNTIMAX
Debt / assets 35.7% 23.2% 4.2%
Debt / equity -1.6x 0.4x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 9.5x – -0.8x
Debt / FCF 19.5x – 0.3x
Liabilities / assets 122.5% 35.4% 51.0%
Equity / assets -22.5% 64.6% 49.0%
Interest coverage 0.5x – 11.2x
Current ratio 0.4x 2.4x –
Quick ratio 0.4x 2.3x –
Cash ratio 0.1x 1.2x –
Altman Z-score -0.45 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLIONVSNTIMAX
Dividend yield – 3.7% –
Net buyback yield -0.2% – -0.6%
Shareholder yield -0.2% 3.7% -0.6%
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.

ConsensusLIONVSNTIMAX
Forward P/E – 7.2xFY2026 22.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $4.28FY2026 $2.29FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – -24.8%FY2026 +57.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +64.7% +4.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $6.65BFY2026 $497.98MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – -0.6%FY2026 +21.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – -3.9% -5.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLIONVSNTIMAX
Held by institutions 89.1% 86.7% 91.5%
Institutions holding 291 792 257
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.3% +4.0% +4.5%
Institutions buying 155 302 144
Institutions selling 85 311 69
Buyers to sellers 1.82 0.97 2.09

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.

LIONVSNTIMAX
LION 1.00 0.22 0.19
VSNT 0.22 1.00 0.13
IMAX 0.19 0.13 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LION, VSNT and IMAX?

Versant Media (VSNT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Lionsgate Studios (LION) $3.56B, Versant Media (VSNT) $4.30B, Imax (IMAX) $2.78B.

Which stock is cheaper, LION, VSNT and IMAX?

Versant Media (VSNT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Lionsgate Studios (LION) -30.1x, Versant Media (VSNT) 20.6x, Imax (IMAX) 67.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Versant Media (VSNT) is cheapest (Versant Media (VSNT) 7.2x, Imax (IMAX) 22.9x). 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: Lionsgate Studios (LION) +9.9%, Imax (IMAX) +14.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Imax (IMAX) has the highest net margin (Lionsgate Studios (LION) -4.1%, Imax (IMAX) 9.8%). On return on invested capital, Lionsgate Studios (LION) leads (Lionsgate Studios (LION) 18.4%, Imax (IMAX) 13.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Lionsgate Studios (LION) returned the most: Lionsgate Studios (LION) +87.2%, Imax (IMAX) +62.9%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Versant Media (VSNT) has been the steadiest (Lionsgate Studios (LION) 49.2%, Versant Media (VSNT) 41.4%, Imax (IMAX) 42.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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