Iron Mountain vs Lamar Advertising
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Iron Mountain and Lamar Advertising side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Iron Mountain is the larger business, with $6.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.3B for Lamar Advertising, about 3.0 times as much.
- Iron Mountain grew revenue faster (12.2%, against 2.7%).
- Lamar Advertising kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (34.2% operating margin, against 16.9%).
- Lamar Advertising turned more of its sales into free cash flow (30.2% FCF margin, against −13.5%).
- Lamar Advertising earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (17.3%, against 5.6%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Iron Mountain’s earnings: a P/E of 80.8x against 28.7x for Lamar Advertising.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 9 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Iron Mountain
IRM
2/9
Revenue growth5-year growth
Lamar Advertising
LAMR
7/9
Operating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalPiotroski F-scoreNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | IRM FY25 | LAMR FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $33.9B | $16.0B |
| Revenue | $6.9B | $2.3B |
| Free cash flow | −$932M | $683M |
| Net income | $152M | $587M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 12.2% | 2.7% |
| 5-year growth | 10.7% | 7.6% |
| Share count change | 0.5% | −0.9% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 67.0% |
| Operating margin | 16.9% | 34.2% |
| Net margin | 2.2% | 25.9% |
| FCF margin | −13.5% | 30.2% |
| Return on capital | 5.6% | 17.3% |
| Return on equity | — | 56.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $16.8B | $3.4B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 7.7x | 3.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $919M | $814M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 80.8x | 28.7x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 8 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.