SON vs SW vs IP Stock Comparison

Sonoco Products, Smurfit Westrock and International Paper Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SON Sonoco Products Co
$49.29 -1.5% 1M +22.1% 1Y
Market cap
$4.91B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$7.37B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
4 wins
SW Smurfit Westrock plc
$42.22 -9.0% 1M -2.0% 1Y
Market cap
$22.35B
P/E
45.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$31.33B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
2 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Sonoco Products leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Sonoco Products 4, International Paper 4, Smurfit Westrock 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSONSWIPLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.91B $22.35B $17.70B SW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -21.6x 45.0x -5.1x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 9.7x 18.6x 25.5x SON
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.6% +1.7% +25.4% IP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 1.6% -14.2% SW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 3.1% 7.5% IP
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 3.2x 1.7x IP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +22.1% -2.0% -31.7% SON
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.2%/yr -4.0%/yr -7.8%/yr SON
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.7% 44.2% 45.0% SON
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 44/100 63/100 68/100 IP

Percentile Scorecard

SONSWIP

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

AxisSONSWIP
Valuation 67 #6 of 16 73 #5 of 16 60 #7 of 16
Growth 20 #13 of 16 73 #5 of 16 47 #9 of 16
Profitability 43 #9 of 15 50 #8 of 15 57 #7 of 15
Financial Health 29 #11 of 15 79 #4 of 15 86 #3 of 15
Shareholder Returns 62 #6 of 14 39 #9 of 14 92 #2 of 14
Overall 44 63 68
  • SON ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • SW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • IP ranked among 17 companies in Packaging

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSONSWIPSPY
1 month -1.5%-9.0%-4.7% -0.8%
3 months -16.0%-15.7%-21.2% +3.5%
6 months -1.9%+5.4%+2.3% +7.0%
Year to date +12.9%+9.2%-15.2% +12.2%
1 year +22.1%-2.0%-31.7% +13.0%
3 years -2.6%+35.8%+0.8% +86.3%
3 years, per year -0.9%+10.8%+0.3% +23.1%
5 years -15.2%-18.4%-33.5% +68.6%
5 years, per year -3.2%-4.0%-7.8% +11.0%
10 years -1.4%+92.7%-27.7% +258.0%
10 years, per year -0.1%+6.8%-3.2% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureSONSWIPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.7%44.2%45.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.4%40.4%44.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.411.461.26 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.66-0.04-0.70 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -41.2%-55.1%-51.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -18.6%-18.6%-32.1% -1.8%
52-week high $60.55$51.84$49.19 $779.14
52-week low $39.27$32.79$29.38 $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.

MultipleSONSWIP
P/E now vs peer median -21.6xmedian 19.3x 44.5xmedian 19.3x -5.1xmedian 19.3x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 0.7x 0.7xmedian 0.7x 0.9xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 9.7x 8.4xmedian 9.7x 6.0xmedian 9.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 13.9xmedian 15.7x 21.8xmedian 15.7x 42.6xmedian 15.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 1.4x 1.2xmedian 1.4x 1.4xmedian 1.4x
PEG now vs peer median 0.62median 0.82 —median 0.82 0.08median 0.82

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 monthsSONSWIP
Revenue $7.37B $31.33B $24.20B
Gross profit $1.49B $5.62B $7.21B
Operating income $202.22M $1.48B $2.13B
Net income -$226.60M $497.00M -$3.44B
Free cash flow – $1.02B $492.00M
EPS (diluted) $-2.28 $0.94 $-6.49
Cash & equivalents $183.10M $677.00M $726.00M
Total debt – $14.16B $34.22B
Shares (diluted) 99.78M 526.00M 529.50M
Enterprise value $4.91B $19.26B $13.60B

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
MetricSONSWIP
P/E -21.6x 44.5x -5.1x
P/FCF 13.9x 21.8x 42.6x
P/Operating cash flow 7.7x 6.7x 7.9x
P/S 0.7x 0.7x 0.9x
P/B 1.7x 1.2x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 14.6x 1.3x 2.0x
EV/EBITDA – 8.4x 6.0x
EV/EBIT – 24.1x 13.8x
EV/Revenue 0.7x 1.1x 1.2x
EV/FCF – 35.1x 59.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.7x 10.8x 11.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.62 – 0.08

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSONSWIP
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.6% 1.7% 25.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 18.9% – 6.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -1.3% -4.5% 32.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 13.7% – 7.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) -63.5% 17.2% 6.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -30.2% – -13.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -136.1% 41.2% -12,633%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -35.0% – -74.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -136.2% 40.1% -12,708%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -35.0% – -60.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -6.3% 52.3% 139.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -7.8% – 8.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 1,094% 516.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – -18.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSONSWIP
Gross margin – 17.9% 29.8%
EBITDA margin – 13.5% 20.4%
Operating margin – 4.7% 8.8%
Pretax margin – 2.3% -13.5%
Net margin – 1.6% -14.2%
FCF margin – 3.2% 2.0%
Operating cash flow margin 8.6% 10.5% 10.9%
Return on equity -7.1% 2.7% -23.5%
Return on assets -2.1% 1.1% -9.4%
Return on invested capital – 3.1% 7.5%
Return on capital employed – 3.9% 7.3%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.7x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -2.8x 6.6x -0.8x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.4% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSONSWIP
Debt / assets – 31.3% 25.2%
Debt / equity – 0.8x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – 3.2x 1.7x
Debt / FCF – 14.0x 18.7x
Liabilities / assets 72.2% 60.0% 60.4%
Equity / assets 27.8% 40.0% 39.6%
Interest coverage – – 6.2x
Current ratio 1.2x 1.4x 1.1x
Quick ratio – 0.7x 0.7x
Cash ratio – 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score – 1.45 1.62

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSONSWIP
Dividend yield 4.3% 4.2% 5.5%
Net buyback yield – -0.1% 0.2%
Shareholder yield 4.3% 4.2% 5.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusSONSWIP
Forward P/E 9.7xFY2026 18.6xFY2026 25.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.09FY2026 $2.27FY2026 $1.31FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -10.9%FY2026 +10.7%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +17.5% +67.4% +122.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $7.65BFY2026 $33.77BFY2026 $23.04BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.7%FY2026 +8.3%FY2026 -2.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -5.9% +9.3% +17.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSONSWIP
Held by institutions 97.9% 95.9% 85.3%
Institutions holding 507 640 855
Change in shares held, QoQ +13.2% +5.7% +4.9%
Institutions buying 264 373 453
Institutions selling 160 191 282
Buyers to sellers 1.65 1.95 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.

SONSWIP
SON 1.00 0.52 0.50
SW 0.52 1.00 0.81
IP 0.50 0.81 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SON, SW and IP?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Sonoco Products (SON) $4.91B, Smurfit Westrock (SW) $22.35B, International Paper (IP) $17.70B.

Which company is growing faster?

International Paper (IP) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Sonoco Products (SON) +3.6%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) +1.7%, International Paper (IP) +25.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) has the highest net margin (Smurfit Westrock (SW) 1.6%, International Paper (IP) -14.2%). On return on invested capital, International Paper (IP) leads (Smurfit Westrock (SW) 3.1%, International Paper (IP) 7.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Sonoco Products (SON) returned the most: Sonoco Products (SON) +22.1%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -2.0%, International Paper (IP) -31.7%. Over five years, Sonoco Products (SON) compounded fastest (Sonoco Products (SON) -3.2%/yr, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -4.0%/yr, International Paper (IP) -7.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Sonoco Products (SON) has been the steadiest (Sonoco Products (SON) 33.7%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 44.2%, International Paper (IP) 45.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SON, SW and IP?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Sonoco Products (SON) leads on 4. 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.