MERC vs NWGL vs WFG Stock Comparison

Mercer International, CL Workshop and West Fraser Timber Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

West Fraser Timber leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (West Fraser Timber 7, Mercer International 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMERCNWGLWFGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.20M $1.46M $5.39B WFG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 0.0x — -3.9x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — — — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -4.8% — -10.2% MERC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -27.9% — -26.2% WFG
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -23.1% — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -6.8x — -181.5x WFG
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.22% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -95.0% -93.5% +4.9% WFG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -58.8%/yr — -3.4%/yr WFG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 97.9% 222.7% 33.6% WFG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 14/100 — 33/100 WFG

Percentile Scorecard

MERCNWGLWFG

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

AxisMERCNWGLWFG
Valuation 20 #231 of 287 – 45 #159 of 287
Growth 1 #264 of 266 – 6 #251 of 266
Profitability 27 #172 of 236 – 21 #187 of 236
Financial Health 8 #264 of 288 7 #269 of 288 –
Shareholder Returns 13 #176 of 203 – 62 #78 of 203
Overall 14 – 33
  • MERC ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • NWGL ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • WFG ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMERCNWGLWFGSPY
1 month -59.4%-92.3%-2.7% -0.2%
3 months -80.9%-52.2%+3.4% +3.9%
6 months -88.0%-88.9%+9.0% +8.2%
Year to date -93.4%-92.3%+14.0% +12.9%
1 year -95.0%-93.5%+4.9% +12.3%
3 years -98.4%-99.0%+6.2% +87.4%
3 years, per year -74.8%-78.4%+2.0% +23.3%
5 years -98.8%—-15.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year -58.8%—-3.4% +10.9%
10 years -98.4%—+103.5% +261.1%
10 years, per year -33.7%—+7.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureMERCNWGLWFGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 97.9%222.7%33.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 115.0%287.5%32.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.872.530.64 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.97-0.420.14 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -99.3%-99.6%-43.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -95.3%-93.5%-9.1% -1.2%
52-week high $2.79$1.69$76.69 $779.14
52-week low $0.12$0.08$57.91 $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.

MultipleMERCNWGLWFG
P/E now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 18.1x —median 18.1x -4.0xmedian 18.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 1.8x —median 1.8x 1.1xmedian 1.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -6.8xmedian 9.8x —median 9.8x -2,933xmedian 9.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median -0.1xmedian 15.5x —median 15.5x -12.7xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median -0.1xmedian 1.8x 1.0xmedian 1.8x 1.0xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 0.00median 0.76 —median 0.76 0.61median 0.76

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 monthsMERCNWGLWFG
Revenue $1.86B – $5.24B
Gross profit $52.72M – $1.14B
Operating income -$437.94M – -$1.49B
Net income -$517.45M – -$1.20B
Free cash flow -$154.18M – -$435.00M
EPS (diluted) $-7.72 – $-17.33
Cash & equivalents $78.78M $200.00K $74.00M
Total debt $1.95B -$11.23M $437.00M
Shares (diluted) 67.04M 16.55M 79.16M
Enterprise value -$440.02M -$3.01M $4.49B

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
MetricMERCNWGLWFG
P/E 0.0x – -4.0x
P/FCF -0.1x – -12.7x
P/Operating cash flow -0.1x – –
P/S 0.0x – 1.1x
P/B -0.1x 1.0x 1.0x
P/Tangible book -0.1x 1.0x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA -6.8x – -2,933x
EV/EBIT -4.3x – -3.9x
EV/Revenue 1.0x – 1.1x
EV/FCF -12.2x – -13.5x
EV/Operating cash flow -22.2x – –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.00 – 0.61

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMERCNWGLWFG
Revenue growth (1Y) -4.8% – -10.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -5.0% – -13.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -81.9% – -29.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -45.3% – -27.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) -5,891% – -867.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -163.0% – -52.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -373.6% – -1,620%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -130.8% – -188.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -372.7% – -331.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -130.0% – -6.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -270.4% – –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -41.4% – –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -261.2% – 17.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.7% – 1.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMERCNWGLWFG
Gross margin 2.8% – 21.8%
EBITDA margin -14.9% – 0.0%
Operating margin -23.6% – -28.4%
Pretax margin -29.7% – -29.3%
Net margin -27.9% – -26.2%
FCF margin -8.3% – -8.3%
Operating cash flow margin -4.6% – –
Return on equity – – -24.5%
Return on assets -27.0% – –
Return on invested capital -23.1% – –
Return on capital employed -33.3% – –
Asset turnover 1.0x – –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.2x – –
Stock comp / revenue 0.0% – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMERCNWGLWFG
Debt / assets 104.3% 46.3% –
Debt / equity -19.9x 2.2x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA -6.8x – -181.5x
Debt / FCF -12.7x – -1.0x
Liabilities / assets 105.2% 78.5% –
Equity / assets -5.2% 21.5% –
Interest coverage -3.7x – –
Current ratio 1.3x 1.2x –
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.5x –
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.0x –
Altman Z-score 0.04 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMERCNWGLWFG
Dividend yield 0.0% – 1.8%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 0.0% – 1.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) -1.9% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) -6.5% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) -60.0% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -26.1% – –

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.

ConsensusMERCNWGLWFG
EPS, next fiscal year $-3.79FY2026 – $-4.07FY2026
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.02BFY2026 – $5.84BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.9%FY2026 – +6.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +10.5% – +9.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMERCNWGLWFG
Held by institutions 63.8% – 49.7%
Institutions holding 67 – 166
Change in shares held, QoQ -11.3% – +3.1%
Institutions buying 27 – 79
Institutions selling 19 – 55
Buyers to sellers 1.42 – 1.44

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.

MERCNWGLWFG
MERC 1.00 0.14 0.19
NWGL 0.14 1.00 -0.01
WFG 0.19 -0.01 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MERC, NWGL and WFG?

West Fraser Timber (WFG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mercer International (MERC) $8.20M, CL Workshop (NWGL) $1.46M, West Fraser Timber (WFG) $5.39B.

Which company is growing faster?

Mercer International (MERC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mercer International (MERC) -4.8%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -10.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

West Fraser Timber (WFG) has the highest net margin (Mercer International (MERC) -27.9%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -26.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year West Fraser Timber (WFG) returned the most: Mercer International (MERC) -95.0%, CL Workshop (NWGL) -93.5%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) +4.9%. Over five years, West Fraser Timber (WFG) compounded fastest (Mercer International (MERC) -58.8%/yr, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -3.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Mercer International (MERC) 1.22%, CL Workshop (NWGL) 0.00%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 0.00%. CL Workshop (NWGL) and West Fraser Timber (WFG) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, West Fraser Timber (WFG) has been the steadiest (Mercer International (MERC) 97.9%, CL Workshop (NWGL) 222.7%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 33.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MERC, NWGL and WFG?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, West Fraser Timber (WFG) leads on 7. 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.