MERC vs SUZ vs CLW Stock Comparison

Mercer International, Suzano and Clearwater Paper Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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SUZ Suzano S.A.
$9.00 +5.0% 1M -2.6% 1Y
Market cap
$11.15B
P/E
7.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.04B
Div. yield
–
Pulp and Paper Basic Materials
9 wins
CLW Clearwater Paper Corp
$13.05 -34.4% 1M -32.4% 1Y
Market cap
$209.47M
P/E
87.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.51B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Suzano leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (Suzano 9, Mercer International 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMERCSUZCLWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.45M $11.15B $209.47M SUZ
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 0.0x 7.2x 87.3x SUZ
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 6.3x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -4.8% +0.7% -3.2% SUZ
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -27.9% 17.2% 0.2% SUZ
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -23.1% 7.1% -1.3% SUZ
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -6.8x 3.1x 7.6x MERC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.19% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -95.1% -2.6% -32.4% SUZ
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -59.3%/yr +0.5%/yr -20.8%/yr SUZ
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 97.9% 29.8% 63.0% SUZ
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 14/100 57/100 49/100 SUZ

Percentile Scorecard

MERCSUZCLW

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

AxisMERCSUZCLW
Valuation 20 #231 of 287 90 #29 of 287 100 #1 of 16
Growth 1 #264 of 266 17 #222 of 266 40 #10 of 16
Profitability 28 #170 of 234 76 #57 of 234 36 #10 of 15
Financial Health 8 #266 of 289 30 #202 of 289 53 #8 of 16
Shareholder Returns 14 #174 of 203 72 #58 of 203 15 #12 of 14
Overall 14 57 49
  • MERC ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • SUZ ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • CLW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMERCSUZCLWSPY
1 month -62.5%+5.0%-34.4% +0.9%
3 months -80.0%+8.3%-39.7% +5.9%
6 months -88.8%+0.8%+1.2% +8.5%
Year to date -93.9%-3.6%-25.0% +13.3%
1 year -95.1%-2.6%-32.4% +12.4%
3 years -98.5%-13.3%-62.2% +88.1%
3 years, per year -75.4%-4.6%-27.7% +23.5%
5 years -98.9%+2.6%-68.8% +68.2%
5 years, per year -59.3%+0.5%-20.8% +11.0%
10 years -98.5%+158.6%-75.8% +263.4%
10 years, per year -34.2%+10.0%-13.2% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureMERCSUZCLWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 97.9%29.8%63.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 115.2%27.9%70.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.860.640.80 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.97-0.09-0.51 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -99.3%-41.1%-77.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -95.7%-21.5%-44.0% -0.9%
52-week high $2.79$11.46$23.30 $779.14
52-week low $0.12$7.67$12.44 $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.

MultipleMERCSUZCLW
P/E now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 17.5x 7.2xmedian 17.5x 87.7xmedian 19.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 1.8x 1.3xmedian 1.8x 0.1xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -6.8xmedian 9.8x 5.8xmedian 9.8x 10.6xmedian 9.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median -0.1xmedian 15.8x 12.8xmedian 15.8x 3.7xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median -0.1xmedian 1.8x 1.2xmedian 1.8x 0.3xmedian 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median 0.00median 0.78 -0.20median 0.78 -1.27median 0.78

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 monthsMERCSUZCLW
Revenue $1.86B $9.04B $1.51B
Gross profit $52.72M $2.58B $27.10M
Operating income -$437.94M $1.91B -$24.30M
Net income -$517.45M $1.56B $2.40M
Free cash flow -$154.18M $888.28M $56.80M
EPS (diluted) $-7.72 $1.25 $0.15
Cash & equivalents $78.78M $3.21B $35.70M
Total debt $1.95B $17.89B $567.40M
Shares (diluted) 67.04M 1.24B 16.13M
Enterprise value -$439.78M -$7.18B $11.17M

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
MetricMERCSUZCLW
P/E 0.0x 7.2x 87.7x
P/FCF -0.1x 12.8x 3.7x
P/Operating cash flow -0.1x 3.6x 2.0x
P/S 0.0x 1.3x 0.1x
P/B -0.1x 1.2x 0.3x
P/Tangible book -0.1x 1.2x 0.3x
EV/EBITDA -6.8x 5.8x 10.6x
EV/EBIT -4.3x 12.7x -30.5x
EV/Revenue 1.0x 2.7x 0.5x
EV/FCF -12.2x 27.2x 13.1x
EV/Operating cash flow -22.2x 7.7x 7.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.00 -0.20 -1.27

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMERCSUZCLW
Revenue growth (1Y) -4.8% 0.7% -3.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -5.0% -1.5% 43.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -81.9% -23.8% -76.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -45.3% -17.1% 28.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -5,891% -20.3% 62.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -163.0% -30.5% -31.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -373.6% 11.8% -98.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -130.8% -29.7% -69.5%
EPS growth (1Y) -372.7% 14.2% -98.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -130.0% -36.5% -69.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -270.4% -11.0% 478.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -41.4% -13.2% -9.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -261.2% -70.7% 142.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.7% -47.6% -10.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMERCSUZCLW
Gross margin 2.8% 28.6% 1.8%
EBITDA margin -14.9% 46.0% 4.6%
Operating margin -23.6% 21.1% -1.6%
Pretax margin -29.7% 25.9% -3.2%
Net margin -27.9% 17.2% 0.2%
FCF margin -8.3% 9.8% 3.8%
Operating cash flow margin -4.6% 34.8% 7.0%
Return on equity – 16.6% 0.3%
Return on assets -27.0% 4.8% 0.1%
Return on invested capital -23.1% 7.1% -1.3%
Return on capital employed -33.3% 6.4% -2.1%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.3x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.2x 2.0x 43.8x
Stock comp / revenue 0.0% – 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMERCSUZCLW
Debt / assets 104.3% 54.2% 31.9%
Debt / equity -19.9x 1.9x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA -6.8x 3.1x 7.6x
Debt / FCF -12.7x 20.1x 10.0x
Liabilities / assets 105.2% 70.9% 55.3%
Equity / assets -5.2% 29.1% 44.7%
Interest coverage -3.7x 1.4x –
Current ratio 1.3x 3.4x 1.5x
Quick ratio 0.6x 2.3x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.1x 1.9x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 0.04 1.04 1.74

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMERCSUZCLW
Dividend yield 0.0% 2.3% –
Net buyback yield – – 0.0%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 2.3% 0.0%
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.

ConsensusMERCSUZCLW
Forward P/E – 6.3xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $-3.79FY2026 $1.43FY2026 $-3.74FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – -31.6%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after – -29.4% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.02BFY2026 $10.39BFY2026 $1.55BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.9%FY2026 +7.5%FY2026 -0.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +10.5% +11.4% +6.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMERCSUZCLW
Held by institutions 63.8% 5.9% 88.7%
Institutions holding 67 136 134
Change in shares held, QoQ -11.3% +0.6% +9.9%
Institutions buying 27 77 85
Institutions selling 19 46 33
Buyers to sellers 1.42 1.67 2.58

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.

MERCSUZCLW
MERC 1.00 0.01 0.09
SUZ 0.01 1.00 0.10
CLW 0.09 0.10 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MERC, SUZ and CLW?

Suzano (SUZ) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mercer International (MERC) $8.45M, Suzano (SUZ) $11.15B, Clearwater Paper (CLW) $209.47M.

Which stock is cheaper, MERC, SUZ and CLW?

Suzano (SUZ) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Mercer International (MERC) 0.0x, Suzano (SUZ) 7.2x, Clearwater Paper (CLW) 87.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Suzano (SUZ) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mercer International (MERC) -4.8%, Suzano (SUZ) +0.7%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) -3.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Suzano (SUZ) has the highest net margin (Mercer International (MERC) -27.9%, Suzano (SUZ) 17.2%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) 0.2%). On return on invested capital, Suzano (SUZ) leads (Mercer International (MERC) -23.1%, Suzano (SUZ) 7.1%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) -1.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Suzano (SUZ) returned the most: Mercer International (MERC) -95.1%, Suzano (SUZ) -2.6%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) -32.4%. Over five years, Suzano (SUZ) compounded fastest (Mercer International (MERC) -59.3%/yr, Suzano (SUZ) +0.5%/yr, Clearwater Paper (CLW) -20.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Mercer International (MERC) 1.19%, Suzano (SUZ) 0.00%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) 0.00%. Suzano (SUZ) and Clearwater Paper (CLW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Suzano (SUZ) has been the steadiest (Mercer International (MERC) 97.9%, Suzano (SUZ) 29.8%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) 63.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MERC, SUZ and CLW?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Suzano (SUZ) leads on 9. 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.