SLVM vs RYAM vs MERC Stock Comparison

Sylvamo, Rayonier Advanced Materials and Mercer International Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SLVM Sylvamo Corp
$32.44 -9.8% 1M -25.2% 1Y
Market cap
$1.29B
P/E
17.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.30B
Div. yield
5.55%
Pulp and Paper Basic Materials
6 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Sylvamo leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Sylvamo 6, Rayonier Advanced Materials 2, Mercer International 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSLVMRYAMMERCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.29B $449.77M $8.71M SLVM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.0x -3.2x 0.0x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.6x — — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -7.1% -3.3% -4.8% RYAM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.3% -9.5% -27.9% SLVM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 7.4% -4.7% -23.1% SLVM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 8.4x -6.8x MERC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 5.55% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -25.2% -7.6% -95.0% RYAM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.1%/yr -1.4%/yr -58.8%/yr SLVM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 38.4% 68.1% 97.9% SLVM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 57/100 22/100 14/100 SLVM

Percentile Scorecard

SLVMRYAMMERC

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

AxisSLVMRYAMMERC
Valuation 88 #35 of 287 42 #55 of 94 20 #231 of 287
Growth 11 #237 of 266 9 #83 of 91 1 #264 of 266
Profitability 64 #86 of 236 27 #63 of 86 27 #172 of 236
Financial Health 27 #211 of 288 11 #85 of 95 8 #264 of 288
Shareholder Returns 97 #8 of 203 – 13 #176 of 203
Overall 57 22 14
  • SLVM ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • RYAM ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • MERC ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSLVMRYAMMERCSPY
1 month -9.8%-22.5%-59.4% -0.2%
3 months -16.7%-24.2%-80.9% +3.9%
6 months -25.5%-32.8%-88.0% +8.2%
Year to date -32.6%+12.9%-93.4% +12.9%
1 year -25.2%-7.6%-95.0% +12.3%
3 years -25.4%+141.8%-98.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year -9.3%+34.3%-74.8% +23.3%
5 years +16.5%-6.7%-98.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year +3.1%-1.4%-58.8% +10.9%
10 years —-49.8%-98.4% +261.1%
10 years, per year —-6.7%-33.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureSLVMRYAMMERCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 38.4%68.1%97.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 35.3%56.3%115.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.621.801.87 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.66-0.11-0.97 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -67.4%-71.6%-99.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -40.7%-43.4%-95.3% -1.2%
52-week high $54.74$11.75$2.79 $779.14
52-week low $31.19$5.52$0.12 $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.

MultipleSLVMRYAMMERC
P/E now vs peer median 17.0xmedian 18.1x -3.2xmedian 22.0x 0.0xmedian 18.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.4xmedian 1.8x 0.3xmedian 1.4x 0.0xmedian 1.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 9.8x 13.6xmedian 12.4x -6.8xmedian 9.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median -117.4xmedian 15.5x -12.3xmedian 15.1x -0.1xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 1.8x 2.3xmedian 1.6x -0.1xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median -0.49median 0.76 0.03median 1.66 0.00median 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 monthsSLVMRYAMMERC
Revenue $3.30B $1.47B $1.86B
Gross profit $679.00M $86.44M $52.72M
Operating income $261.00M -$51.13M -$437.94M
Net income $76.00M -$139.93M -$517.45M
Free cash flow -$11.00M -$36.56M -$154.18M
EPS (diluted) $1.91 $-2.07 $-7.72
Cash & equivalents $227.00M $57.01M $78.78M
Total debt $3.55B $774.77M $1.95B
Shares (diluted) 39.80M 67.51M 67.04M
Enterprise value $1.17B $184.57M -$439.51M

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
MetricSLVMRYAMMERC
P/E 17.0x -3.2x 0.0x
P/FCF -117.4x -12.3x -0.1x
P/Operating cash flow 6.2x 8.7x -0.1x
P/S 0.4x 0.3x 0.0x
P/B 1.4x 2.3x -0.1x
P/Tangible book 1.4x 2.4x -0.1x
EV/EBITDA 4.9x 13.6x -6.8x
EV/EBIT 8.2x -22.8x -4.3x
EV/Revenue 0.6x 0.8x 1.0x
EV/FCF -193.8x -31.9x -12.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 10.2x 22.7x -22.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.49 0.03 0.00

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSLVMRYAMMERC
Revenue growth (1Y) -7.1% -3.3% -4.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -4.2% -6.9% -5.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -16.7% -32.6% -81.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -12.8% -15.4% -45.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) -32.2% -130.1% -5,891%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -23.2% -43.1% -163.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -65.1% 68.5% -373.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -36.5% -113.6% -130.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -64.0% 68.8% -372.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -35.0% -111.7% -130.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -49.5% -55.0% -270.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -19.7% -35.2% -41.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -105.7% -241.2% -261.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -27.1% -34.6% -0.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSLVMRYAMMERC
Gross margin 20.6% 5.9% 2.8%
EBITDA margin 13.3% 5.9% -14.9%
Operating margin 7.9% -3.5% -23.6%
Pretax margin 4.3% -10.2% -29.7%
Net margin 2.3% -9.5% -27.9%
FCF margin -0.3% -2.5% -8.3%
Operating cash flow margin 6.3% 3.5% -4.6%
Return on equity 7.9% -65.8% –
Return on assets 2.7% -8.5% -27.0%
Return on invested capital 7.4% -4.7% -23.1%
Return on capital employed 12.4% -4.0% -33.3%
Asset turnover 1.2x 0.9x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.8x -0.4x 0.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.3% 0.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSLVMRYAMMERC
Debt / assets 33.5% 47.8% 104.3%
Debt / equity 1.0x 4.0x -19.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 8.4x -6.8x
Debt / FCF -87.6x -21.2x -12.7x
Liabilities / assets 66.8% 88.0% 105.2%
Equity / assets 33.2% 12.0% -5.2%
Interest coverage – -0.5x -3.7x
Current ratio 1.5x 1.4x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.6x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 3.20 0.92 0.04

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSLVMRYAMMERC
Dividend yield 5.5% – 0.0%
Net buyback yield 3.3% – –
Shareholder yield 8.8% 0.0% 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.

ConsensusSLVMRYAMMERC
Forward P/E 26.6xFY2026 – –
EPS, next fiscal year $1.22FY2026 $-1.18FY2026 $-3.79FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -65.5%FY2026 – –
EPS growth, the year after +323.0% – –
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.41BFY2026 $1.40BFY2026 $2.02BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.8%FY2026 -4.6%FY2026 +7.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.8% +1.5% +10.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSLVMRYAMMERC
Held by institutions 99.6% 77.1% 63.8%
Institutions holding 335 188 67
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.4% -2.3% -11.3%
Institutions buying 162 98 27
Institutions selling 88 48 19
Buyers to sellers 1.84 2.04 1.42

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.

SLVMRYAMMERC
SLVM 1.00 0.16 0.09
RYAM 0.16 1.00 0.19
MERC 0.09 0.19 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SLVM, RYAM and MERC?

Sylvamo (SLVM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Sylvamo (SLVM) $1.29B, Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) $449.77M, Mercer International (MERC) $8.71M.

Which company is growing faster?

Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Sylvamo (SLVM) -7.1%, Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) -3.3%, Mercer International (MERC) -4.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sylvamo (SLVM) has the highest net margin (Sylvamo (SLVM) 2.3%, Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) -9.5%, Mercer International (MERC) -27.9%). On return on invested capital, Sylvamo (SLVM) leads (Sylvamo (SLVM) 7.4%, Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) -4.7%, Mercer International (MERC) -23.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) returned the most: Sylvamo (SLVM) -25.2%, Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) -7.6%, Mercer International (MERC) -95.0%. Over five years, Sylvamo (SLVM) compounded fastest (Sylvamo (SLVM) +3.1%/yr, Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) -1.4%/yr, Mercer International (MERC) -58.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Sylvamo (SLVM) 5.55%, Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) 0.00%, Mercer International (MERC) 0.00%. Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) and Mercer International (MERC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Sylvamo (SLVM) has been the steadiest (Sylvamo (SLVM) 38.4%, Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) 68.1%, Mercer International (MERC) 97.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SLVM, RYAM and MERC?

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