$ICT Up-Rates, $SM Down-Rates: When the Market Puts a Premium on “Global” and a Discount on “Domestic”
We’ve been blogging for free. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us! Disclaimer: This is for informational purposes and is not investment advice. Figures are taken from company disclosures and exchange data; valuation ratios include the author’s calculations based on cited inputs. The market has been running a split screen: ICTSI’s valuation has been re-rated upward , while SM’s has been marked down —despite both being best-in-class franchises. The cleanest way to describe what’s happening is multiple expansion versus multiple compression : the market is willing to pay more for ICTSI’s earnings stream, and less for SM’s—even if SM remains profitable and resilient. The bridge between price and valuation is always the same question: what did the latest quarter do to conviction? In their 3Q 2025 SEC Form 17-Qs , ICTSI delivered the kind of numbers that investors tend to reward with a higher multiple— double-digit growth, margin lift, and strong operatin...