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. This transcript is brought to you APIs. For real-time access to our entire catalog, please visit for a consultation.

5 billion. The acquisition of Greif's containerboard business contributed positively to earnings, exceeding expectations, driven by strong volumes and improved operational performance. 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. 15 per share, excluding special items.

48 per share. 2 billion in 2025. Total company EBITDA for the second quarter, excluding special items, was $486 million in 2026 and $451 million in 2025. 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. 14 of earnings from the acquired Greif business. 01. 02.

04 benefit to depreciation expense due to measurement period adjustments to the valuation of fixed assets on the opening balance sheet of the business. 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. 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.

While we ended the quarter at a low number, we've been able to build some inventory early in July with many plants down for the holiday weekend to help get us near our target levels of inventory. With not as much outage impact in the third quarter, we'll be in a much stronger position to serve our customers in the very tight conditions that we're operating under. Operational performance was a mixed bag during the quarter as we were hit with some production interruptions resulting from utility power outages across the mill system. This further emphasizes our need to execute and realize the benefits of the gas turbine projects, which will reduce, if not eliminate, our