Packaging Corporation of America reported Q4 2025 adjusted EPS of $2.32, slightly below prior year, but guided Q1 2026 EPS of $2.20 as demand inflects higher. Management struck a bullish tone, citing tightening containerboard markets, strong January bookings, a $70/ton price hike effective March 1, and plans to run mills at full capacity all year. The Greif acquisition integration is progressing well, with major reliability improvements at the acquired mills. Q4 2025 adjusted EPS $2.32 vs $2.47 in prior year, driven by lower volume and higher costs partially offset by higher prices.
Packaging Corporation of America reported Q4 2025 adjusted EPS of $2.32, slightly below prior year, but guided Q1 2026 EPS of $2.20 as demand inflects higher. Management struck a bullish tone, citing tightening containerboard markets, strong January bookings, a $70/ton price hike effective March 1, and plans to run mills at full capacity all year. The Greif acquisition integration is progressing well, with major reliability improvements at the acquired mills. Q4 2025 adjusted EPS $2.32 vs $2.47 in prior year, driven by lower volume and higher costs partially offset by higher prices.
Management is confident due to improving demand signals, strong January bookings and billings, a successful integration of the Greif acquisition, and a positive outlook for running mills at full capacity.
Q4 2025 adjusted EPS $2.32 vs $2.47 in prior year, driven by lower volume and higher costs partially offset by higher prices.
Q1 2026 guidance: adjusted EPS of $2.20 (excludes most of March price hike). Full-year CapEx guided to $840-870M.
Management is investing heavily in capacity and efficiency, with 2026 capital expenditures guided to $840-$870 million. Key projects include completing a new box plant in Ohio, upgrading the Jackson, Alabama mill, and installing gas turbines at two mills for energy…
January bookings up 11%, billings up 8% per day. Management is confident due to improving demand signals, strong January bookings and billings, a successful integration of the Greif acquisition, and a positive outlook for running mills at full capacity.
Management is investing heavily in capacity and efficiency, with 2026 capital expenditures guided to $840-$870 million. Key projects include completing a new box plant in Ohio, upgrading the Jackson, Alabama mill, and installing gas turbines at two mills for energy independence, with a third installation planned. The company expects to run its mill system at full capacity for 2026 and is focused o
Management is confident due to improving demand signals, strong January bookings and billings, a successful integration of the Greif acquisition, and a positive outlook for running mills at full capacity.
“over a three-and-a-half-month period of time, we've essentially rebuilt the Massalon mill, so it's become the little mill that could.”
“Our container board system is tightening up, and we will need to run at full capacity to support our demand.”
“January bookings in our legacy corrugated and sheet plants are up over 11%, and billings are up 8% on a per day basis through last Thursday.”
| Metric | Period | Range | Midpoint | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capex | FY2026 | 840–870 | 855 | GUIDED |
| EPS | FY2026 Q1 | $2.20 | $2.20 | GUIDED |
| Issued | Metric | Target | Guide | Actual | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 Q1 | EPS | FY2026 Q2 | $2.33 | $2.35 | Met / beat |
| FY2025 Q3 | EPS | FY2025 Q4 | $2.40 | $2.32 | Missed |
PCA executed a major three-and-a-half-month rebuild of the acquired Massalon mill, bringing it close to PCA efficiency standards, which was not part of the initial integration plan and reflects aggressive capacity investment. — This accelerated fix removes reliability risk and adds incremental containerboard supply to a tightening market, benefiting PCA's margins and potentially pressuring competitors.
“We completed the acquisition of the Greif business and achieved significant progress on integration and improving the operations.”
Thanks, Kent. Our employees put in a tremendous effort and delivered outstanding results for PCA during 2025 when business conditions were challenging at various times. We completed the acquisition of the Greif business and achieved significant progress on integration and improving the operations. We successfully started up our Glendale, Arizona plant and completed numerous capital and operational projects to improve our capabilities and efficiency in our corrugated business and continue to serve and profitably grow with our customers. Our paper business continued to deliver outstanding results through its commitment to customer service and manufacturing excellence. As a company, we still have many key strategic capital opportunities in progress or ahead for the 2026 year and beyond. Our balance sheet remains high quality. We have flexibility to continue to take advantage of internal or external investment opportunities that generate shareholder value. We continue our time-tested and balanced approach towards capital allocation, investing in our business to profitably grow our earnings and cash flows and returning value to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. We …
Containerboard system is tightening: PCA expects to run mills full for all of 2026, with no open market tons available—a marked shift from prior years of oversupply. — Tight supply supports pricing power across the industry, benefitting all containerboard producers; PCA's comment signals higher operating rates and potential further price increases.
… and billings from a strong comp in 2025, where we were up 5% over 2024. January bookings in our legacy corrugated and sheet plants are up over 11%, and billings are up 8% on a per day basis through last Thursday. We're seeing improvement across our customer base, which is a good sign for healthier underlying demand. Based on what we've seen so far, we are forecasting solid year-over-year growth for the first quarter and seasonal improvement in our mix. Our container board system is tightening up, and we will need to run at full capacity to support our demand. Including the acquisition, shipments were up 17% over last year for the fourth quarter and 6% for the year. The acquired plants had a very good quarter, outperforming our expectations and are also off to a strong start to the year. We made good progress on integration and are working toward operating as a single corrugated system as soon as we can with systems integration work ongoing. We still have work to do to optimize the inventory levels and paper grades carried by the acquired plants. We are working off the remaining container board purchase and trade commitments and ended the quarter at approximately the same …