MERC vs WFG vs SW Stock Comparison

Mercer International, West Fraser Timber and Smurfit Westrock Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (PKG) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
SW Smurfit Westrock plc
$40.35 -10.5% 1M -6.4% 1Y
Market cap
$22.22B
P/E
46.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$31.48B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
3 wins

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

West Fraser Timber leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (West Fraser Timber 5, Smurfit Westrock 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMERCWFGSWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.13M $5.39B $22.22B SW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 0.0x -3.9x 46.8x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — — 17.8x –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -4.8% -10.2% +1.1% SW
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 1.24% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -95.1% +5.0% -6.4% WFG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -59.3%/yr -3.1%/yr -4.9%/yr WFG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 97.9% 33.6% 44.4% WFG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 14/100 33/100 64/100 SW

Percentile Scorecard

MERCWFGSW

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

AxisMERCWFGSW
Valuation 20 #231 of 287 45 #159 of 287 80 #4 of 16
Growth 1 #264 of 266 6 #250 of 266 13 #14 of 16
Profitability 28 #170 of 234 21 #185 of 234 79 #4 of 15
Financial Health 8 #266 of 289 – 87 #3 of 16
Shareholder Returns 14 #174 of 203 61 #80 of 203 62 #6 of 14
Overall 14 33 64
  • MERC ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • WFG ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • SW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMERCWFGSWSPY
1 month -62.5%-4.3%-10.5% +0.9%
3 months -80.0%+2.9%-16.4% +5.9%
6 months -88.8%+8.5%+1.7% +8.5%
Year to date -93.9%+12.0%+4.3% +13.3%
1 year -95.1%+5.0%-6.4% +12.4%
3 years -98.5%+4.3%+29.8% +88.1%
3 years, per year -75.4%+1.4%+9.1% +23.5%
5 years -98.9%-14.5%-22.0% +68.2%
5 years, per year -59.3%-3.1%-4.9% +11.0%
10 years -98.5%+98.7%+84.2% +263.4%
10 years, per year -34.2%+7.1%+6.3% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureMERCWFGSWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 97.9%33.6%44.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 115.2%32.4%41.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.860.631.45 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.970.15-0.14 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -99.3%-43.2%-55.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -95.7%-10.7%-22.2% -0.9%
52-week high $2.79$76.69$51.84 $779.14
52-week low $0.12$57.91$32.79 $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.

MultipleMERCWFGSW
P/E now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 17.5x -3.9xmedian 17.5x 46.8xmedian 19.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 1.8x 1.0xmedian 1.8x 0.7xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -6.8xmedian 9.8x -2,885xmedian 9.8x —median 9.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median -0.1xmedian 15.8x -12.4xmedian 15.8x 22.9xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median -0.1xmedian 1.8x 1.0xmedian 1.8x 1.2xmedian 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median 0.00median 0.78 0.60median 0.78 —median 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 monthsMERCWFGSW
Revenue $1.86B $5.24B $31.48B
Gross profit $52.72M $1.14B $5.49B
Operating income -$437.94M -$1.49B $1.44B
Net income -$517.45M -$1.20B $473.00M
Free cash flow -$154.18M -$435.00M –
EPS (diluted) $-7.72 $-17.33 –
Cash & equivalents $78.78M $74.00M –
Total debt $1.95B $437.00M –
Shares (diluted) 67.04M 79.16M 526.00M
Enterprise value -$440.10M $4.48B $22.22B

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
MetricMERCWFGSW
P/E 0.0x -3.9x 46.8x
P/FCF -0.1x -12.4x 22.9x
P/Operating cash flow -0.1x – 7.0x
P/S 0.0x 1.0x 0.7x
P/B -0.1x 1.0x 1.2x
P/Tangible book -0.1x 1.0x 1.2x
EV/EBITDA -6.8x -2,885x –
EV/EBIT -4.3x -3.9x –
EV/Revenue 1.0x 1.1x 0.7x
EV/FCF -12.2x -13.3x –
EV/Operating cash flow -22.2x – 7.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.00 0.60 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMERCWFGSW
Revenue growth (1Y) -4.8% -10.2% 1.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -5.0% -13.9% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) -81.9% -29.4% -10.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -45.3% -27.6% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -5,891% -867.5% -16.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -163.0% -52.1% –
Net income growth (1Y) -373.6% -1,620% -36.8%
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% – 2.0%
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
MetricMERCWFGSW
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% – 9.6%
Return on equity – -24.5% 2.6%
Return on assets -27.0% – 1.0%
Return on invested capital -23.1% – –
Return on capital employed -33.3% – –
Asset turnover 1.0x – 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.2x – 6.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.0% – 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMERCWFGSW
Debt / assets 104.3% – –
Debt / equity -19.9x 0.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA -6.8x -181.5x –
Debt / FCF -12.7x -1.0x –
Liabilities / assets 105.2% – 60.1%
Equity / assets -5.2% – 39.9%
Interest coverage -3.7x – –
Current ratio 1.3x – 1.5x
Quick ratio 0.6x – –
Cash ratio 0.1x – –
Altman Z-score 0.04 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMERCWFGSW
Dividend yield 0.0% 1.9% 4.4%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 1.9% 4.4%
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.

ConsensusMERCWFGSW
Forward P/E – – 17.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-3.79FY2026 $-4.07FY2026 $2.27FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – – +10.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – – +67.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.02BFY2026 $5.84BFY2026 $33.77BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.9%FY2026 +6.9%FY2026 +8.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +10.5% +9.6% +9.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMERCWFGSW
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.

MERCWFGSW
MERC 1.00 0.19 0.20
WFG 0.19 1.00 0.51
SW 0.20 0.51 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MERC, WFG and SW?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mercer International (MERC) $8.13M, West Fraser Timber (WFG) $5.39B, Smurfit Westrock (SW) $22.22B.

Which company is growing faster?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mercer International (MERC) -4.8%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -10.2%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) +1.1%.

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) -95.1%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) +5.0%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -6.4%. Over five years, West Fraser Timber (WFG) compounded fastest (Mercer International (MERC) -59.3%/yr, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -3.1%/yr, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -4.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Mercer International (MERC) 1.24%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 0.00%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 0.00%. West Fraser Timber (WFG) and Smurfit Westrock (SW) 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%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 33.6%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 44.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 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.