Packaging Corp of America Q2 2026 Earnings Call: Complete Transcript

Packaging Corp of America (NYSE: PKG ) released second-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Thursday.

Read the complete transcript below.

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View the webcast at Summary Packaging Corp of America reported second quarter 2026 net income of $192 million, or $2.15 per share, excluding special items, with net sales of $2.5 billion.

The acquisition of Greif's containerboard business contributed positively to earnings, exceeding expectations, driven by strong volumes and improved operational performance.

The company expects third quarter earnings of $2.91 per share, excluding special items, with higher prices for containerboard and corrugated products anticipated.

Operational challenges included production interruptions due to utility power outages, emphasizing the importance of ongoing gas turbine projects to reduce grid reliance.

Strategic initiatives included the successful startup of a new Ohio plant and integration of the acquired Greif business into the company's operations, enhancing efficiency and margins.

Full Transcript OPERATOR Thank you for joining Packaging Corp of America's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Results Conference call.

Your host today will be Mark Kowlzan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Packaging Corp of America.

Upon conclusion of his narrative, there will be a Q and A session.

I would now like to turn the floor over to Mr.

Kowlzan.

Please proceed when you are ready.

Mark Kowlzan, Chairman and CEO Thanks, Jamie, and good morning, everyone, and thank you all for participating in Packaging Corp of America’s second quarter 2026 earnings release conference call.

Again, I'm Mark Kowlzan, Chairman and CEO of Packaging Corp of America, and with me on the call today is Tom Hassfurther, President, and Kent Pflederer, our Chief Financial Officer.

I'll begin the call as usual with an overview of our second quarter results and then I'll be turning the call over to Tom and Kent who will provide further details.

I'll then wrap things up and then we'll be glad to take questions.

Yesterday we reported second quarter net income of $192 million, or $2.15 per share, excluding special items.

The second quarter 2026 net income was $210 million, or $2.35 per share, compared to the second quarter of 2025's net income of $224 million, or $2.48 per share.

Second quarter net sales were $2.5 billion in 2026 and $2.2 billion in 2025.

Total company EBITDA for the second quarter, excluding special items, was $486 million in 2026 and $451 million in 2025.

Second quarter net income included special items expense of $0.20 per share, primarily for costs and write-offs related to facilities closures, the Wallula Mill restructuring charges, and costs related to the acquisition and integration of the Greif Containerboard business.

Details of the special items for the second quarter of 2026 and 2025 were included in the schedules that accompanied the press release.

Excluding the special items, our earnings decreased by $0.13 per share compared to the second quarter 2025 resulting from a $0.27 decrease in legacy business earnings, partially offset by $0.14 of earnings from the acquired Greif business.

The decrease in the legacy earnings was driven primarily by higher freight costs of $0.26, higher corporate and other expenses $0.12, lower price and mix in the packaging business $0.11, higher labor and operating costs $0.05, higher depreciation and amortization expenses $0.03, higher fiber costs $0.02, higher tax rates $0.02, and higher interest expense, excluding the Greif acquisition indebtedness, for $0.01.

These items were partially offset by higher production and sales volume in the packaging business for $0.26, lower maintenance outage expense $0.04, higher production and sales volume in the paper business for $0.03, and higher price and mix in the paper business $0.02.

Greif's earnings were driven by strong volumes in the corrugated business and improved operating performance in the mills and included a $0.04 benefit to depreciation expense due to measurement period adjustments to the valuation of fixed assets on the opening balance sheet of the business.

We exceeded our guidance of $2.33 on the strength of our corrugated volumes, which helped drive cost favorability in areas that we could control and offset higher-than-forecast costs for freight, recycled fiber, and employee benefits.

Greif's earnings contribution also exceeded our expectations.

Looking at our packaging business, EBITDA excluding special items in the second quarter of 2026 of $489 million with sales of $2.3 billion resulted in a margin of 21.1% versus last year's EBITDA of $453 million and sales of $2 billion, or a 22.6% margin.

We produced 1,415,000 tons of containerboard during the quarter.

The legacy mills produced 1,209,000 tons of containerboard, about even with the first quarter of 2026 and 14,000 tons more than the second quarter of 2025.

The acquired mills produced 206,000 tons during the quarter, significantly exceeding their production in any quarter since the acquisition.

System-wide, our inventories were down 25,000 tons from the end of the first quarter.