MERC vs SW vs WFG Stock Comparison

Mercer International, Smurfit Westrock and West Fraser Timber Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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SW Smurfit Westrock plc
$45.21 +6.6% 1M +24.5% 1Y
Market cap
$23.71B
P/E
47.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$31.33B
Div. yield
3.94%
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
8 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Smurfit Westrock leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Smurfit Westrock 8, Mercer International 1, West Fraser Timber 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMERCSWWFGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $16.75M $23.71B $5.51B SW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 0.0x 47.7x -5.1x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 19.9x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -4.8% +1.7% -7.1% SW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -27.9% 1.6% -20.4% SW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -23.1% 3.1% -18.0% SW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -6.8x 3.2x 2.1x MERC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 3.94% 1.84% SW
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -87.2% +24.5% +16.8% SW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -52.6%/yr -3.5%/yr -3.6%/yr SW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 110.6% 42.6% 33.7% WFG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 14/100 60/100 35/100 SW

Percentile Scorecard

MERCSWWFG

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

AxisMERCSWWFG
Valuation 19 #239 of 295 75 #5 of 17 47 #156 of 295
Growth 2 #270 of 274 73 #5 of 16 9 #250 of 274
Profitability 28 #175 of 241 47 #9 of 16 21 #191 of 241
Financial Health 9 #269 of 294 81 #4 of 17 37 #185 of 294
Shareholder Returns 15 #186 of 218 23 #11 of 14 60 #87 of 218
Overall 14 60 35
  • MERC ranked among 309 companies in Basic Materials
  • SW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • WFG ranked among 309 companies in Basic Materials

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMERCSWWFGSPY
1 month 0.0%+6.6%+5.9% -1.0%
3 months -63.2%-6.7%-0.8% -0.4%
6 months -77.5%+7.9%+11.1% +4.5%
Year to date -87.4%+16.9%+14.1% +12.4%
1 year -87.2%+24.5%+16.8% +13.6%
3 years -97.3%+37.5%-6.3% +76.4%
3 years, per year -70.1%+11.2%-2.1% +20.8%
5 years -97.6%-16.3%-16.7% +63.7%
5 years, per year -52.6%-3.5%-3.6% +10.4%
10 years -97.1%+106.4%+103.5% +267.7%
10 years, per year -29.7%+7.5%+7.4% +13.9%

Risk

MeasureMERCSWWFGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 110.6%42.6%33.7% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 114.3%37.0%31.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.981.380.69 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.790.580.50 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -99.3%-55.1%-43.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -91.0%-12.8%-9.1% -1.6%
52-week high $2.79$51.84$76.69 $779.14
52-week low $0.12$32.79$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.

MultipleMERCSWWFG
P/E now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 18.0x 47.7xmedian 33.4x -5.1xmedian 18.0x
P/S now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 1.8x 0.8xmedian 0.7x 1.0xmedian 1.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -6.8xmedian 10.3x 8.8xmedian 10.3x 33.4xmedian 10.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median -0.1xmedian 15.2x 23.4xmedian 16.4x -11.7xmedian 15.2x
P/B now vs peer median -0.2xmedian 1.9x 1.3xmedian 1.6x 1.0xmedian 1.9x
PEG now vs peer median 0.00median 0.64 —median 0.84 -1.71median 0.64

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 monthsMERCSWWFG
Revenue $1.86B $31.33B $5.30B
Gross profit $52.72M $5.62B $1.30B
Operating income -$437.94M $1.48B -$1.31B
Net income -$517.45M $497.00M -$1.08B
Free cash flow -$154.18M $1.02B -$472.00M
EPS (diluted) $-7.72 $0.94 $-13.64
Cash & equivalents $78.78M $677.00M $203.00M
Total debt $1.95B $14.16B $578.00M
Shares (diluted) 67.04M 526.00M 79.16M
Enterprise value -$431.47M $20.64B $4.95B

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
MetricMERCSWWFG
P/E 0.0x 47.7x -5.1x
P/FCF -0.1x 23.4x -11.7x
P/Operating cash flow -0.2x 7.2x –
P/S 0.0x 0.8x 1.0x
P/B -0.2x 1.3x 1.0x
P/Tangible book -0.1x 1.4x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA -6.8x 8.8x 33.4x
EV/EBIT -4.3x 25.2x -4.5x
EV/Revenue 1.0x 1.2x 1.1x
EV/FCF -12.3x 36.7x -12.5x
EV/Operating cash flow -22.3x 11.3x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.00 – -1.71

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMERCSWWFG
Revenue growth (1Y) -4.8% 1.7% -7.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -5.0% – -9.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -81.9% -4.5% -10.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -45.3% – -14.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) -5,891% 17.2% -307.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -163.0% – -108.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -373.6% 41.2% -335.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -130.8% – -116.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -372.7% 40.1% -346.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -130.0% – 3.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -270.4% 52.3% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -41.4% – –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -261.2% 1,094% 13.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.7% – 0.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMERCSWWFG
Gross margin 2.8% 17.9% 24.6%
EBITDA margin -14.9% 13.5% 3.3%
Operating margin -23.6% 4.7% -24.7%
Pretax margin -29.7% 2.3% -25.6%
Net margin -27.9% 1.6% -20.4%
FCF margin -8.3% 3.2% -8.9%
Operating cash flow margin -4.6% 10.5% –
Return on equity – 2.7% -20.3%
Return on assets -27.0% 1.1% –
Return on invested capital -23.1% 3.1% -18.0%
Return on capital employed -33.3% 3.9% –
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.7x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.2x 6.6x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.0% 0.4% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMERCSWWFG
Debt / assets 104.3% 31.3% –
Debt / equity -19.9x 0.8x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA -6.8x 3.2x 2.1x
Debt / FCF -12.7x 14.0x -1.2x
Liabilities / assets 105.2% 60.0% –
Equity / assets -5.2% 40.0% –
Interest coverage -3.7x – -42.2x
Current ratio 1.3x 1.4x –
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.7x –
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x –
Altman Z-score 0.04 1.48 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMERCSWWFG
Dividend yield 0.0% 3.9% 1.8%
Net buyback yield – -0.1% –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 3.9% 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.

ConsensusMERCSWWFG
Forward P/E – 19.9xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $-3.79FY2026 $2.27FY2026 $-4.07FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +10.7%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after – +67.4% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.02BFY2026 $33.77BFY2026 $5.84BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.9%FY2026 +8.3%FY2026 +6.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +10.5% +9.3% +9.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMERCSWWFG
Held by institutions 63.8% 95.9% 49.7%
Institutions holding 67 643 166
Change in shares held, QoQ -11.3% +5.7% +3.1%
Institutions buying 27 376 79
Institutions selling 19 191 55
Buyers to sellers 1.42 1.97 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.

MERCSWWFG
MERC 1.00 0.19 0.18
SW 0.19 1.00 0.51
WFG 0.18 0.51 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MERC, SW and WFG?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mercer International (MERC) $16.75M, Smurfit Westrock (SW) $23.71B, West Fraser Timber (WFG) $5.51B.

Which company is growing faster?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mercer International (MERC) -4.8%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) +1.7%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -7.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) has the highest net margin (Mercer International (MERC) -27.9%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 1.6%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -20.4%). On return on invested capital, Smurfit Westrock (SW) leads (Mercer International (MERC) -23.1%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 3.1%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -18.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Smurfit Westrock (SW) returned the most: Mercer International (MERC) -87.2%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) +24.5%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) +16.8%. Over five years, Smurfit Westrock (SW) compounded fastest (Mercer International (MERC) -52.6%/yr, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -3.5%/yr, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -3.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) has the highest dividend yield: Mercer International (MERC) 0.00%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 3.94%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 1.84%. Mercer International (MERC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, West Fraser Timber (WFG) has been the steadiest (Mercer International (MERC) 110.6%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 42.6%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 33.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MERC, SW 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, Smurfit Westrock (SW) leads on 8. 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.