ADEA vs IP: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of September 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: IP is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. ADEA and IP share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined ADEA and IP exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Adeia Inc, the licensing business spun out of the former Xperi (with roots in Rovi, TiVo, and DTS heritage IP), monetizes one of the larger patent portfolios in media and semiconductors. It licenses technology across Pay-TV, streaming and social media, consumer electronics, and increasingly semiconductor packaging and interconnect, signing multi-year agreements with names such as AMD and Microsoft. The model is capital-light: a fixed research and licensing cost base generates recurring royalty revenue plus periodic up-front, non-recurring fees, which is why adjusted EBITDA margins run around 60 percent.

Full ADEA guide

International Paper is a leading global producer of fiber-based packaging, pulp, and related products, best known for corrugated containers and the containerboard that goes into them. Its boxes carry everything from food and beverages to e-commerce shipments and industrial goods, so demand broadly tracks consumer and industrial activity. The company sells mainly to businesses rather than consumers, and its economics turn on containerboard pricing, box volumes, input costs like fiber and energy, and mill utilization. As a large, capital-intensive manufacturer, it competes on cost, scale, and its distribution and converting network.

Full IP guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• ADEA drivers: Semiconductor licensing expansion; Recurring royalty base and cash generation.
• IP drivers: DS Smith integration and global scale; Cost cuts and footprint optimization.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Revenue is lumpy because non-recurring up-front license fees can swing quarterly results, making any single period hard to extrapolate. For IP, the main risk is cyclicality: box volumes and containerboard pricing move with consumer and industrial activity, so an economic slowdown can reduce demand and pressure pricing and margins, as recent low-single-digit volume softness showed.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick ADEA if you believe its drivers more; IP if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the ADEA and IP guides.

ADEA. Adeia reiterated full-year 2026 revenue guidance of roughly $395 million to $435 million and adjusted EBITDA of about $213 million to $245 million. Because a large share of value comes from cash flow and contracted backlog rather than reported growth, investors often weigh it on free-cash-flow yield and licensing-renewal momentum. Non-recurring license fees ($38.5 million in Q1 2026) can make headline quarterly figures volatile.

IP. Figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date; verify live numbers before acting. Packaging producers like International Paper are cyclical, so trailing earnings can be distorted by restructuring charges and where box volumes and containerboard prices sit in the cycle. That makes forward margins, synergy capture, and the value the market assigns to the two separated companies more important to the thesis than a single point-in-time earnings multiple.

Headline figures (approximate, July 2026): ADEA shows revenue (ttm) ~$395M, q1 2026 revenue ~$104.8M (up ~20% YoY), q1 2026 net income ~$22.8M (~$0.20 diluted EPS), adjusted ebitda margin ~60%; IP shows transformation Completed DS Smith acquisition (Jan 2025); planned geographic split announced early 2026, synergy target At least several hundred million dollars from the DS Smith combination, 2025 segment strength North American packaging adjusted EBITDA grew sharply with margin expansion, 2026 earnings Expected to absorb substantial restructuring charges from footprint actions.

ADEA and IP are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined ADEA and IP exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.