QUAD vs NCMI vs STGW Stock Comparison

Quad, National CineMedia and Stagwell Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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QUAD Quad/Graphics, Inc.
$7.80 -15.9% 1M +46.6% 1Y
Market cap
$355.90M
P/E
13.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.38B
Div. yield
–
Advertising Agencies Communication Services
6 wins
NCMI National CineMedia, Inc.
$1.76 -23.5% 1M -57.5% 1Y
Market cap
$158.35M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$249.00M
Div. yield
0.07%
Advertising Agencies Communication Services
2 wins
STGW Stagwell Inc
$9.95 +21.6% 1M +109.5% 1Y
Market cap
$2.45B
P/E
252.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.11B
Div. yield
–
Advertising Agencies Communication Services
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Quad leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Quad 6, Stagwell 3, National CineMedia 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionQUADNCMISTGWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $355.90M $158.35M $2.45B STGW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 13.4x -20.8x 252.9x QUAD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 6.1x — 8.6x QUAD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -4.9% +5.8% +7.7% STGW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 1.1% -3.1% 0.3% QUAD
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 13.3% — 1.6% QUAD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.7x -1.7x 4.2x NCMI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.07% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +46.6% -57.5% +109.5% STGW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +14.6%/yr -44.0%/yr +2.8%/yr QUAD
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 44.8% 74.2% 55.4% QUAD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 62/100 77/100 70/100 NCMI

Percentile Scorecard

QUADNCMISTGW

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

AxisQUADNCMISTGW
Valuation 89 #7 of 53 85 #9 of 53 65 #19 of 53
Growth 40 #27 of 44 77 #11 of 44 88 #6 of 44
Profitability 71 #13 of 42 42 #25 of 42 59 #18 of 42
Financial Health 33 #41 of 61 87 #9 of 61 48 #32 of 61
Shareholder Returns 76 #7 of 26 96 #2 of 26 88 #4 of 26
Overall 62 77 70
  • QUAD ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • NCMI ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • STGW ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodQUADNCMISTGWSPY
1 month -15.9%-23.5%+21.6% +0.7%
3 months -21.1%-56.0%+17.2% +3.7%
6 months +4.8%-48.1%+58.7% +7.1%
Year to date +24.4%-54.8%+103.5% +12.8%
1 year +46.6%-57.5%+109.5% +11.9%
3 years +56.9%-52.4%+129.8% +85.2%
3 years, per year +16.2%-22.0%+32.0% +22.8%
5 years +98.0%-94.5%+14.6% +67.6%
5 years, per year +14.6%-44.0%+2.8% +10.9%
10 years -67.1%-98.7%— +262.0%
10 years, per year -10.5%-35.3%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureQUADNCMISTGWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 44.8%74.2%55.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 50.4%91.5%51.2% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.480.780.83 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.04-0.771.98 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -69.4%-97.3%-62.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -28.1%-60.4%0.0% -1.2%
52-week high $10.85$4.45$9.95 $779.14
52-week low $5.18$1.75$4.40 $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.

MultipleQUADNCMISTGW
P/E now vs peer median 14.1xmedian 18.7x -21.7xmedian 18.7x 251.2xmedian 18.7x
P/S now vs peer median 0.2xmedian 0.6x 0.7xmedian 0.6x 0.8xmedian 0.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 5.4xmedian 10.6x 6.7xmedian 10.6x 12.3xmedian 10.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 11.8xmedian 9.0x 8.4xmedian 9.0x 6.7xmedian 9.0x
P/B now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 1.6x 0.5xmedian 1.6x 3.5xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.38median 0.49 0.83median 0.49 6.45median 0.49

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 monthsQUADNCMISTGW
Revenue $2.38B $249.00M $3.11B
Gross profit $508.30M $234.50M $1.12B
Operating income $83.80M -$17.70M $125.88M
Net income $26.50M -$7.60M $9.93M
Free cash flow $37.20M $19.70M $367.79M
EPS (diluted) $0.53 $-0.08 $0.04
Cash & equivalents $22.80M $46.10M $132.20M
Total debt $442.00M $12.00M $1.41B
Shares (diluted) 50.40M 93.70M 250.99M
Enterprise value $255.40M -$9.85M $1.99B

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
MetricQUADNCMISTGW
P/E 14.1x -21.7x 251.2x
P/FCF 11.8x 8.4x 6.7x
P/Operating cash flow 5.3x 6.9x 6.0x
P/S 0.2x 0.7x 0.8x
P/B 3.6x 0.5x 3.5x
P/Tangible book 4.0x 4.0x -28.9x
EV/EBITDA 5.4x 6.7x 12.3x
EV/EBIT 10.2x -7.4x 29.8x
EV/Revenue 0.4x 0.5x 1.2x
EV/FCF 23.1x 6.7x 10.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 10.3x 5.5x 9.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.38 0.83 6.45

Growth

14 metrics
MetricQUADNCMISTGW
Revenue growth (1Y) -4.9% 5.8% 7.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -8.0% 8.3% 6.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -6.9% 5.3% 7.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -5.3% 9.8% 5.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 5.5% 24.7% -13.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 39.5% -15.1% 29.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 28.6% 62.6% -66.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 38.0% -26.3% 30.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 26.9% 62.4% -49.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 37.5% -26.1% 39.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -23.3% -19.3% 69.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -28.2% 128.7% 41.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -38.8% -18.6% 71.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -37.9% 81.9% 42.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricQUADNCMISTGW
Gross margin 21.4% 94.2% 36.0%
EBITDA margin 6.6% 7.9% 9.8%
Operating margin 3.5% -7.1% 4.0%
Pretax margin 1.3% -3.1% 1.4%
Net margin 1.1% -3.1% 0.3%
FCF margin 1.6% 7.9% 11.8%
Operating cash flow margin 3.5% 9.6% 13.3%
Return on equity 21.6% -2.2% 1.8%
Return on assets 2.2% -1.7% 0.3%
Return on invested capital 13.3% – 1.6%
Return on capital employed 13.2% -4.5% 4.7%
Asset turnover 1.9x 0.5x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.2x -3.1x 41.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 3.1% 2.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricQUADNCMISTGW
Debt / assets 35.3% 2.7% 33.6%
Debt / equity 3.7x 0.0x 2.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.7x -1.7x 4.2x
Debt / FCF 11.9x 0.6x 3.8x
Liabilities / assets 90.4% 25.1% 83.1%
Equity / assets 9.6% 74.9% 16.9%
Interest coverage 2.1x -25.3x 1.3x
Current ratio 1.0x 1.8x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.6x 1.8x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.8x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 1.64 2.05 1.19

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricQUADNCMISTGW
Dividend yield 4.8% 5.1% –
Net buyback yield 2.0% 2.7% 4.9%
Shareholder yield 6.8% 7.8% 4.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) – -150.0% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 57.9% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 100.0% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 57.8% –

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.

ConsensusQUADNCMISTGW
Forward P/E 6.1xFY2026 – 8.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.27FY2026 $-0.08FY2026 $1.16FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +25.7%FY2026 – +39.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +13.4% – +11.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.24BFY2026 $286.80MFY2026 $3.39BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -7.3%FY2026 +17.9%FY2026 +16.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.6% -3.9% +0.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersQUADNCMISTGW
Held by institutions 41.0% 89.6% 42.1%
Institutions holding 147 110 184
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.1% +2.2% -0.1%
Institutions buying 83 56 92
Institutions selling 40 34 57
Buyers to sellers 2.08 1.65 1.61

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.

QUADNCMISTGW
QUAD 1.00 0.14 0.10
NCMI 0.14 1.00 0.16
STGW 0.10 0.16 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, QUAD, NCMI and STGW?

Stagwell (STGW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Quad (QUAD) $355.90M, National CineMedia (NCMI) $158.35M, Stagwell (STGW) $2.45B.

Which stock is cheaper, QUAD, NCMI and STGW?

Quad (QUAD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Quad (QUAD) 13.4x, National CineMedia (NCMI) -20.8x, Stagwell (STGW) 252.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Quad (QUAD) is cheapest (Quad (QUAD) 6.1x, Stagwell (STGW) 8.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Stagwell (STGW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Quad (QUAD) -4.9%, National CineMedia (NCMI) +5.8%, Stagwell (STGW) +7.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Quad (QUAD) has the highest net margin (Quad (QUAD) 1.1%, National CineMedia (NCMI) -3.1%, Stagwell (STGW) 0.3%). On return on invested capital, Quad (QUAD) leads (Quad (QUAD) 13.3%, Stagwell (STGW) 1.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Stagwell (STGW) returned the most: Quad (QUAD) +46.6%, National CineMedia (NCMI) -57.5%, Stagwell (STGW) +109.5%. Over five years, Quad (QUAD) compounded fastest (Quad (QUAD) +14.6%/yr, National CineMedia (NCMI) -44.0%/yr, Stagwell (STGW) +2.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Quad (QUAD) 0.00%, National CineMedia (NCMI) 0.07%, Stagwell (STGW) 0.00%. Quad (QUAD) and Stagwell (STGW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Quad (QUAD) has been the steadiest (Quad (QUAD) 44.8%, National CineMedia (NCMI) 74.2%, Stagwell (STGW) 55.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, QUAD, NCMI and STGW?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Quad (QUAD) leads on 6. 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.