Five years of moves
CWL.TO −54.4% since 2021-10-25, against the median of KFY, RHI −20.1%, its sector fund — and the S&P 500 (SPY) +77.4%. Numbered dots mark inflections (peaks and troughs); shaded bands mark divergences from the sector or market.
Metric history isn't available for this stock.
Caldwell is a cheap, net-cash executive-search firm with no live catalyst yet; a buyback and the IQTalent sale proceeds could close the gap.
Caldwell is a Canadian executive-search firm that has just sold its IQTalent unit. Its shares fell 54.4% over five years while peers fell 20.1% and the S&P 500 rose 77.4%. They jumped 16.5% on Monday, November 2, 2026, with no news found, lifting the multiple from 2.9× to 3.6×. Could trailing profit shrink, or is this cheap? The numbers say cheap, with net cash, but no live catalyst yet.
Cheap on earnings and cash, with an 11.1% return on assets
3.6× EV to operating income, a 27.6% operating earnings yield against the 4.9% 10-year Treasury. Return on assets 11.1%. Free cash flow yield 16.6%; net cash C$11M. Illustrative: at 2.9× the price is C$1.15.
Its industry against its own history
Other Professional Services report →Not US-listed; comparison is with US peers. Industry multiple: 52nd percentile, near its dearest since 1999, on usual returns (66th percentile). Free cash flow yield, 53rd percentile, is lower than usual. Cheap stock in a dear industry.
| Metric | Percentile now | Usual range | Against its history | Last 10 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acquirer's Multiple | 52nd | 34th–50th | Near its dearest | |
| Free cash flow yield | 53rd | 50th–66th | Lower than usual | |
| Shareholder yield | 69th | 41st–66th | Near its highest | |
| Dividend yield | 26th | 25th–53rd | Lower than usual | |
| Return on assets, 5-yr | 66th | 24th–74th | Usual range | |
| Debt to equity | 52nd | 28th–49th | Most debt on record | |
| Company size | 44th | 36th–59th | Usual range |
The industry's median stock as a percentile of all investable US stocks on each number. For the Acquirer's Multiple and debt to equity, lower is better: the 10th percentile is cheaper than 90% of the market. For yields, returns and size, higher is bigger. Usual range covers the middle 80% of quarters since 1999; it's the shaded band in each chart. Each chart is zoomed to its own range (the numbers on the left): green shading marks the metric's better side and red its worse side, the dashed line is the 50th percentile, and the dot is today, coloured by where it sits. CWL.TO is not US-listed; the comparison is with its US peers.
Price v Return
What the shares and assets earn, against the 10-year Treasury.
Company results, not the sector, drove most of the swings
Shares fell 54.4% over five years against peers −20.1%; the S&P 500 rose 77.4%. Swings tracked Caldwell's own fee cycles, restructuring and recoveries; only the 2025 decline was attributed to the sector.
The turning points on the chart
What drove each numbered move on the five-year chart above.
| # | Turning point | CWL.TO | Peers | Sector | S&P 500 | Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peak · also −55.4% vs market · 2022-04-29 → 2023-01-20 | −56.6% | −15.5% | — | −2.7% | Company |
| Q2 2022 revenue rose 66% to C$39.8 million on record operating profit; recruitment then slowed. Shares fell 56.6% against peers −15.5%, so the cause was the company. huntscanlon.com (1662 days ago); otcmarkets.com | ||||||
| 2 | Trough · 2023-01-20 → 2023-03-03 | +37.4% | +4.5% | — | +2.1% | Company |
| Q1 2023 revenue fell 38% to C$23.9 million, with a C$5.5 million operating loss after restructuring. Shares then rebounded 37.4% against peers +4.5%: a company swing. caldwell.com (420 days ago) | ||||||
| 3 | Peak · also −67.9% vs market · 2023-03-03 → 2024-04-05 | −57.0% | +5.3% | — | +30.6% | Company |
| Software spin-off announced March 1, 2023, but hiring stayed weak and IQTalent fees fell 70.7%. Shares fell 57.0% while peers rose 5.3% and the market 30.6%: company. newsroom.caldwell.com; www2.staffingindustry.com (1209 days ago) | ||||||
| 4 | Trough · 2024-04-05 → 2025-01-10 | +84.3% | −3.2% | — | +13.1% | Company |
| Q2 2024 revenue fell 17.2% to C$17.8 million, then Q3 revenue rose 12.8%. Shares gained 84.3% against peers −3.2% and the market +13.1%: company-driven recovery. huntscanlon.com (934 days ago); staffingindustry.com (843 days ago) | ||||||
| 5 | Peak · 2025-01-10 → 2025-11-07 | −47.5% | −28.8% | — | +16.6% | Sector |
| Q3 2025 revenue fell 5.4% and profit fell. Peers also dropped (median −28.8%, led by RHI −58.1%) while the market rose 16.6%, so the sector explains much of it. barchart.com; marketscreener.com (347 days ago) | ||||||
| 6 | Divergence vs market · 2025-03-07 → 2025-11-07 | −39.4% | −25.1% | — | +17.5% | Sector |
| Not among the most significant turning points; not researched. | ||||||
| 7 | Trough · also +63.9% vs market · 2025-11-07 → 2025-12-12 | +66.5% | +7.8% | — | +1.6% | Company |
| No news around the trough. Fiscal 2025 results on November 20 showed Caldwell fees up 44% and a dividend rise. Shares gained 66.5% against peers +7.8%: company. webdisclosure.com (347 days ago); accessnewswire.com (347 days ago) | ||||||
Prices: daily closes. Peers chosen by the AI analyst as the closest US-listed businesses. Moves are over each window: for a peak or trough, the move that followed it. Driver is Company, Sector or Market; see Definitions below.
No live catalyst yet; a buyback and cash-use update are possible
A 2026 buyback covers up to 2,023,669 shares, but no purchases found. The IQTalent sale cancelled shares, cutting the total outstanding by about 4.9%; the board will update on cash use. No activist or bid found.
Catalyst check
Likelihood of a catalyst: ModerateNo live catalyst found; a buyback authorization and a pending update on IQTalent sale cash are the signals.
People-driven revenue and a sold division could erode today's earnings
Revenue depends on retaining partners, who can take clients elsewhere. Trailing earnings may include the sold IQTalent. Ewing Morris holds 12.9% and a rights plan was reconfirmed in 2023. Earnings history is volatile.
Value-trap check
Grades miss that trailing profit may include the sold IQTalent unit and that the 23.2% buyback yield may reflect cancelled sale shares.
Every report on CWL.TO
Each AI analyst report as it was published, with the share price that day and the move since (today C$1.34). Past performance is not a guide to the future.
| Report | Price then | Since | What it said |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2, 2026Latest | C$1.34 | +0.0% | Cash from IQTalent sale and buyback in focus at 3.6× operating income · Catalyst: Moderate |
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Definitions
- Acquirer's Multiple®
- Enterprise value ÷ operating income (trailing 12 months). What an acquirer would pay for the whole business against what it earns before interest and tax. Lower is cheaper.
- Enterprise value
- Market cap at today's price, plus debt, preferred stock and minority interests, less cash.
- Operating income
- Trailing 12 months, after depreciation and amortization.
- Operating earnings yield
- Operating income ÷ enterprise value: the Acquirer's Multiple turned upside down.
- Free cash flow yield
- Trailing 12-month free cash flow (cash from operations less capital spending) ÷ market cap.
- Shareholder yield
- Trailing 12-month dividends plus net buybacks (shares bought back less shares issued) ÷ market cap. Dividend yield and buyback yield are its two parts.
- Return on assets
- Trailing 12-month operating income ÷ total assets at the latest quarter.
- Net debt : market cap
- Debt less cash, as a share of market cap. Negative means net cash.
- E(r)
- Expected annual return if the Acquirer's Multiple doesn't change. It has three parts: return on assets (what the business earns on what it owns); incremental growth (return on assets × the reinvestment rate, where the reinvestment rate is five-year average capital spending ÷ five-year average total assets: what reinvested capital adds); and shareholder yield (what is paid out through dividends and buybacks). E(r) = return on assets × (1 + reinvestment rate) + shareholder yield.
- 10-year Treasury
- The latest monthly 10-year US Treasury yield, the risk-free rate the yields are compared with.
- Percentiles
- Where the stock sits among investable US stocks (price above $3, market cap above $75M, average daily trading above $850,000, no ADRs or MLPs), updated each week. Each is the percentile of the number itself: for the Acquirer's Multiple (here EBIT ÷ enterprise value) and debt (total debt ÷ book equity), lower is better; for yields, five-year average return on assets and market cap, higher is bigger. Stocks outside the investable set, such as ADRs, are placed against it.
- Industry and sector
- FactSet RBICS industry. Industry and sector medians are the middle investable stock's percentile. Industry history is that median each quarter since 1999; the usual range is the middle 80% of quarters.
- Turning points
- Inflection points are the peaks and troughs where the stock's trend reversed by about 25% or more on weekly closes; each is compared over the move that followed. Divergences are stretches where the stock pulled away from its sector fund or the S&P 500 by about 20% or more. Each is set against its peers' median, its sector fund and the S&P 500 over the same window. Driver: Market if the market moved with it (same way, at least half as far) and so did its peers or sector; Sector if only its peers or sector did; Company otherwise.
- Value-trap grades
- Return on assets: Strong at 10% or more, Mixed at 5% or more. Net debt : market cap: Strong at 30% or less, Mixed at 100% or less. Free cash flow yield: Strong at 10% or more, Mixed at 5% or more. Shareholder yield: Strong at 8% or more, Mixed at 3% or more.