Kaiser Aluminum vs Sylvamo
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The short version
- Kaiser Aluminum is the larger business, with $3.4B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $3.4B for Sylvamo.
- Kaiser Aluminum grew revenue faster (11.5%, against −11.2%).
- Sylvamo kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (7.5% operating margin, against 5.6%).
- Sylvamo turned more of its sales into free cash flow (1.3% FCF margin, against −0.8%).
- Sylvamo earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (10.9%, against 7.7%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Sylvamo’s earnings: a P/E of 17.4x against 8.3x for Kaiser Aluminum.
| Latest fiscal year | KALU · FY25 | SLVM · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $1.8B | $1.3B |
| Revenue | $3.4B | $3.4B |
| Free cash flow | −$25.5M | $44.0M |
| Net income | $113M | $132M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 11.5% | −11.2% |
| 5-year growth | 23.5% | 7.0% |
| Share count change | 1.9% | −3.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 13.1% | — |
| Operating margin | 5.6% | 7.5% |
| Net margin | 3.3% | 3.9% |
| FCF margin | −0.8% | 1.3% |
| Return on capital | 7.7% | 10.9% |
| Return on equity | 14.3% | 14.6% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.1B | $651M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.4x | 1.5x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $51.3M | $155M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 8.3x | 17.4x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
KALU $1.3B
SLVM —
FY17
KALU $1.4B
SLVM —
FY18
KALU $1.6B
SLVM —
FY19
KALU $1.5B
SLVM $4.0B
FY20
KALU $1.2B
SLVM $2.4B
FY21
KALU $2.6B
SLVM $2.8B
FY22
KALU $3.4B
SLVM $3.6B
FY23
KALU $3.1B
SLVM $3.7B
FY24
KALU $3.0B
SLVM $3.8B
FY25
KALU $3.4B
SLVM $3.4B
KALU
SLVM
Operating margin
FY16
KALU 13.6%
SLVM —
FY17
KALU 11.1%
SLVM —
FY18
KALU 9.1%
SLVM —
FY19
KALU 8.3%
SLVM —
FY20
KALU 6.9%
SLVM —
FY21
KALU 2.5%
SLVM —
FY22
KALU 0.1%
SLVM 15.2%
FY23
KALU 4.0%
SLVM 11.9%
FY24
KALU 3.7%
SLVM 12.0%
FY25
KALU 5.6%
SLVM 7.5%
KALU
SLVM
Free cash flow
FY16
KALU $89.5M
SLVM —
FY17
KALU $66.0M
SLVM —
FY18
KALU $76.1M
SLVM —
FY19
KALU $172M
SLVM $406M
FY20
KALU $155M
SLVM $293M
FY21
KALU $21.4M
SLVM $480M
FY22
KALU −$206M
SLVM $289M
FY23
KALU $68.7M
SLVM $294M
FY24
KALU −$13.7M
SLVM $248M
FY25
KALU −$25.5M
SLVM $44.0M
KALU
SLVM
Return on capital
FY16
KALU 11.2%
SLVM —
FY17
KALU 7.1%
SLVM —
FY18
KALU 10.7%
SLVM —
FY19
KALU 9.9%
SLVM —
FY20
KALU 6.8%
SLVM —
FY21
KALU 4.6%
SLVM 14.5%
FY22
KALU 0.2%
SLVM 29.0%
FY23
KALU 6.1%
SLVM 20.2%
FY24
KALU 4.8%
SLVM 21.9%
FY25
KALU 7.7%
SLVM 10.9%
KALU
SLVM
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.