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Stock Comparison · Structural lead, mixed market

Houlihan Lokey vs InterContinental Hotels Group: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

InterContinental Hotels holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across profitability and growth. Houlihan Lokey still leads on valuation and stability, which keeps the comparison from looking entirely one-sided. On the market side, InterContinental Hotels is in better shape — its trend is intact while Houlihan Lokey's trend has broken down. That puts structure and market broadly in agreement — InterContinental Hotels's lead looks more confirmed than conflicted.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Peer scores are normalised within each company's primary universe (HLI: Russell 1000, IHG.L: STOXX 600).

Updated 2026-06-14

Most of the lead runs through profitability, while growth helps make the separation broader. InterContinental Hotels Group PLC leads by 14 points on the overall comparison score.

Trajectory Similarity
0.71
Similar
Peer-set rank: #9
within Houlihan Lokey, Inc.'s functional peer set

This comparison is anchored in 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 match is driven mainly by operating margin level and investment intensity.

Similarity drivers
operating margin levelinvestment intensity
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
HLI
Houlihan Lokey, Inc.
43
Peer-Score
Signal qualityMedium
Peer basis: Russell 1000
vs
IHG.L
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC
57
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: STOXX 600

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: HLI vs IHG.L Profitability 27 91 Stability 76 58 Valuation 65 38 Growth 0 31 HLI IHG.L
Gap Ranking
#1 Profitability +64
#2 Growth +31
#3 Valuation +27
#4 Stability +18
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for HLI and IHG.L Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer HLIIHG.L Relative valuation Structural strength

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is cheaper, but Houlihan Lokey, Inc. is still stronger.

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

Entry today — historical context

Where HLI and IHG.L each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY HLI Neutral · near norm 0th 50th 100th 31 pct gap IHG.L Elevated · above norm 0th 50th 100th 68th 99th
Today HLI sits in the upper-middle of its own 5-year history (68th percentile), while IHG.L sits higher in its own history (99th). Within each stock's own 5-year context, HLI is at a historically more favourable entry position than IHG.L. 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
Profitability
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC ranks near the top of the group on profitability; Houlihan Lokey, Inc. sits in the weaker half.
Growth
Both sit in the weaker half on growth, with InterContinental Hotels Group PLC still coming out ahead.
Profitability — Dominant Gap
HLI
27
IHG.L
91
Gap+64in favour of IHG.L

Capital efficiency adds support, with a 76-point ROIC advantage.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

Absolute pricing still looks more supportive for Houlihan Lokey, with a forward P/E that is 9.6 turns lower there.

What this means for the comparison

The lead is built on both profitability and growth — though valuation still provides a counterweight.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the HLI vs IHG.L comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

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Other comparisons with conflicting dimension signals

Explore how HLI and IHG.L 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.