LION vs WMG vs IMAX Stock Comparison

Lionsgate Studios, Warner Music and Imax Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LION Lionsgate Studios Corp.
$12.88 +15.2% 1M +106.7% 1Y
Market cap
$3.83B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$2.88B
Div. yield
–
Film and Television Communication Services
2 wins
WMG Warner Music Group Corp.
$30.47 +10.3% 1M -2.7% 1Y
Market cap
$15.94B
P/E
17.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.30B
Div. yield
2.53%
Music Communication Services
4 wins
IMAX Imax Corp
$51.31 -8.9% 1M +55.9% 1Y
Market cap
$2.81B
P/E
68.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$416.08M
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Imax leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Imax 5, Warner Music 4, Lionsgate Studios 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionLIONWMGIMAXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.83B $15.94B $2.81B WMG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -31.7x 17.0x 68.9x WMG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 21.0x 22.4x WMG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.9% +12.9% +14.8% IMAX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -4.1% 9.2% 9.8% IMAX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 18.4% 13.6% 13.2% LION
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 9.5x 2.9x -0.8x IMAX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 2.53% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +106.7% -2.7% +55.9% LION
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — -9.3%/yr +22.2%/yr IMAX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 49.3% 35.4% 43.0% WMG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 40/100 55/100 62/100 IMAX

Percentile Scorecard

LIONWMGIMAX

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

AxisLIONWMGIMAX
Valuation 34 #81 of 123 39 #75 of 123 39 #124 of 203
Growth 98 #3 of 107 81 #21 of 107 93 #14 of 188
Profitability 40 #63 of 105 87 #15 of 105 82 #34 of 183
Financial Health 11 #116 of 130 27 #95 of 130 83 #38 of 216
Shareholder Returns 14 #64 of 74 40 #45 of 74 14 #131 of 152
Overall 40 55 62
  • LION ranked among 134 companies in Communication Services
  • WMG ranked among 134 companies in Communication Services
  • IMAX ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodLIONWMGIMAXSPY
1 month +15.2%+10.3%-8.9% +0.7%
3 months -3.8%+10.6%+7.9% +3.7%
6 months +3.5%+7.8%+35.0% +7.1%
Year to date +41.1%-0.7%+38.8% +12.8%
1 year +106.7%-2.7%+55.9% +11.9%
3 years +22.8%-2.3%+181.6% +85.2%
3 years, per year +7.1%-0.8%+41.2% +22.8%
5 years —-38.4%+172.2% +67.6%
5 years, per year —-9.3%+22.2% +10.9%
10 years ——+69.1% +262.0%
10 years, per year ——+5.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureLIONWMGIMAXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 49.3%35.4%43.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.5%36.4%36.2% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.780.450.12 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 2.17-0.081.30 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -55.4%-54.4%-42.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -21.5%-12.2%-8.9% -1.2%
52-week high $16.40$34.72$56.35 $779.14
52-week low $6.23$23.65$32.43 $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.

MultipleLIONWMGIMAX
P/E now vs peer median -31.7xmedian 17.5x 17.0xmedian 17.5x 68.9xmedian 25.8x
P/S now vs peer median 1.3xmedian 1.1x 2.2xmedian 1.1x 6.8xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 34.3xmedian 9.8x 14.0xmedian 9.8x 18.1xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 39.3xmedian 9.2x 19.1xmedian 9.2x 22.2xmedian 22.2x
P/B now vs peer median -3.2xmedian 1.6x 16.7xmedian 1.6x 6.3xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.38 1.08median 0.38 0.64median 1.45

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 monthsLIONWMGIMAX
Revenue $2.88B $7.30B $416.08M
Gross profit – $3.34B $248.12M
Operating income $133.20M $1.00B $83.87M
Net income -$118.80M $672.00M $47.12M
Free cash flow $97.40M $836.00M $126.59M
R&D – – $6.42M
EPS (diluted) $-0.41 $1.28 $0.72
Cash & equivalents $425.80M $618.00M $159.92M
Total debt $1.90B $4.71B $38.84M
Shares (diluted) 291.60M 524.42M 56.57M
Enterprise value $2.79B $13.43B $2.31B

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
MetricLIONWMGIMAX
P/E -31.7x 17.0x 68.9x
P/FCF 39.3x 19.1x 22.2x
P/Operating cash flow 34.8x 17.0x 21.2x
P/S 1.3x 2.2x 6.8x
P/B -3.2x 16.7x 6.3x
P/Tangible book -3.1x -7.4x 6.7x
EV/EBITDA 34.3x 14.0x 18.1x
EV/EBIT 39.9x 20.0x 32.1x
EV/Revenue 1.8x 2.7x 6.5x
EV/FCF 54.5x 24.0x 21.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 48.2x 21.3x 20.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 1.08 0.64

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLIONWMGIMAX
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.9% 12.9% 14.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 7.1% 5.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 10.8% 20.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 5.9% 9.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 2,284% 44.1% 39.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 10.5% 42.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 71.9% 126.3% 10.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 16.4% 79.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 73.1% 62.0% 21.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 15.8% 107.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 284.3% 25.0% 72.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 7.5% 40.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 234.0% 37.7% 88.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 10.0% 44.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLIONWMGIMAX
Gross margin – 45.8% 59.6%
EBITDA margin 5.4% 19.5% 35.7%
Operating margin 4.6% 13.7% 20.2%
Pretax margin -3.3% 12.0% 15.0%
Net margin -4.1% 9.2% 9.8%
FCF margin 3.4% 11.4% 30.4%
Operating cash flow margin 3.8% 12.9% 31.9%
Return on equity – 74.2% 10.7%
Return on assets -2.2% 6.2% 5.2%
Return on invested capital 18.4% 13.6% 13.2%
Return on capital employed 6.6% 16.1% –
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.7x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.9x 1.4x 2.8x
Stock comp / revenue 4.1% 0.6% 6.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLIONWMGIMAX
Debt / assets 35.7% 43.9% 4.2%
Debt / equity -1.6x 4.9x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 9.5x 2.9x -0.8x
Debt / FCF 19.5x 5.6x 0.3x
Liabilities / assets 122.5% 91.1% 51.0%
Equity / assets -22.5% 8.9% 49.0%
Interest coverage 0.5x – 11.2x
Current ratio 0.4x 0.7x –
Quick ratio 0.4x 0.5x –
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x –
Altman Z-score -0.43 1.70 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLIONWMGIMAX
Dividend yield – 2.5% –
Net buyback yield -0.2% 0.4% -0.6%
Shareholder yield -0.2% 2.9% -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.

ConsensusLIONWMGIMAX
Forward P/E – 21.0xFY2026 22.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $1.45FY2026 $2.29FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +110.1%FY2026 +57.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +17.9% +4.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $7.63BFY2026 $497.98MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +13.8%FY2026 +21.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – -1.1% -5.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLIONWMGIMAX
Held by institutions 89.1% 100.0% 91.5%
Institutions holding 291 340 257
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.3% +3.2% +4.5%
Institutions buying 155 203 144
Institutions selling 85 103 69
Buyers to sellers 1.82 1.97 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.

LIONWMGIMAX
LION 1.00 0.19 0.19
WMG 0.19 1.00 0.15
IMAX 0.19 0.15 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LION, WMG and IMAX?

Warner Music (WMG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Lionsgate Studios (LION) $3.83B, Warner Music (WMG) $15.94B, Imax (IMAX) $2.81B.

Which stock is cheaper, LION, WMG and IMAX?

Warner Music (WMG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Lionsgate Studios (LION) -31.7x, Warner Music (WMG) 17.0x, Imax (IMAX) 68.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Warner Music (WMG) is cheapest (Warner Music (WMG) 21.0x, Imax (IMAX) 22.4x). 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%, Warner Music (WMG) +12.9%, Imax (IMAX) +14.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Imax (IMAX) has the highest net margin (Lionsgate Studios (LION) -4.1%, Warner Music (WMG) 9.2%, Imax (IMAX) 9.8%). On return on invested capital, Lionsgate Studios (LION) leads (Lionsgate Studios (LION) 18.4%, Warner Music (WMG) 13.6%, Imax (IMAX) 13.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Lionsgate Studios (LION) returned the most: Lionsgate Studios (LION) +106.7%, Warner Music (WMG) -2.7%, Imax (IMAX) +55.9%. Over five years, Imax (IMAX) compounded fastest (Warner Music (WMG) -9.3%/yr, Imax (IMAX) +22.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Warner Music (WMG) 2.53%. Lionsgate Studios (LION) and Imax (IMAX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Warner Music (WMG) has been the steadiest (Lionsgate Studios (LION) 49.3%, Warner Music (WMG) 35.4%, Imax (IMAX) 43.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, LION, WMG 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, Imax (IMAX) 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.