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Stock Comparison · Structural lead, mixed market

Coherent vs Smurfit Westrock: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

Smurfit Westrock holds the cleaner structural position, with valuation as the main driver and growth adding further support. Coherent still has the edge on growth, which keeps the comparison from looking entirely one-sided. In the market, Coherent carries the stronger setup — intact trend against Smurfit Westrock's broken trend. That leaves a split case: the structural lead stays with Smurfit Westrock, but the market is not currently confirming it.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the Russell 1000 universe, making them directly comparable.

Updated 2026-05-17

The clearest separation starts in valuation, but stability adds another real layer to the result. Smurfit Westrock Plc leads by 13 points on the overall comparison score.

Trajectory Similarity
0.70
Similar
Peer-set rank: #1
within Coherent Corp.'s functional peer set

This pair is matched through long-term financial trajectory similarity within the selected peer universe.

The pair sits on a clearly comparable long-term path, though it is not a near-twin match.

The clearest structural overlap shows up in operating margin level and capital structure.

Similarity drivers
operating margin levelcapital structure
What reduces the match
recent revenue growth
How to read the score
0.85–1.00 · Very similar0.70–0.84 · Similar0.55–0.69 · Moderately similarbelow 0.55 · Loose match
Peer-Relative Score
COHR
Coherent Corp.
17
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000
vs
SW
Smurfit Westrock Plc
30
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Russell 1000

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

The largest gaps do not all point in the same direction.

Dimension spread: COHR vs SW Profitability 21 35 Stability 21 36 Valuation 8 41 Growth 21 0 COHR SW
Gap Ranking
#1 Valuation +33
#2 Growth +21
#3 Stability +15
#4 Profitability +14
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for COHR and SW Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer COHRSW Relative valuation Structural strength

The structural gap is limited here, but current pricing still leans against Coherent Corp..

Valuation position uses peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Entry today — historical context

Where COHR and SW each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY COHR Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 58 pct gap SW Neutral · near norm 0th 50th 100th 99th 41st
Today SW sits in the lower-middle of its own 5-year history (41st percentile), while COHR sits higher in its own history (99th). Within each stock's own 5-year context, SW is at a historically more favourable entry position than COHR. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger — peer-relative analysis is a separate question addressed above.

Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Valuation
Smurfit Westrock Plc sits higher in the group on valuation, adding to the overall structural advantage.
Growth
Both sit in the weaker half on growth, with Coherent Corp. still coming out ahead.
Valuation — Dominant Gap
COHR
8
SW
41
Gap+33in favour of SW

The multiple-based pricing edge comes from a forward P/E that is 36 turns lower.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

Growth still leans toward Coherent Corp., so the lead is real without reading as one-way.

What this means for the comparison

Valuation is the clearest driver of the lead, with growth adding further support — though growth still provides a real counterweight.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the COHR vs SW comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

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Other comparisons with conflicting dimension signals

Explore how COHR and SW each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.