International Paper Company

International Paper did not give consolidated revenue or EPS on the call, but it did report segment adjusted EBITDA and updated outlooks. Packaging Solutions North America delivered $425 million of adjusted EBITDA in Q2, while Packaging Solutions EMEA delivered $182 million. Free cash flow in the quarter was negative $7 million, with cash from operations used to fund transformation initiatives and $533 million of capital investments. For Q3, North America adjusted EBITDA is expected to be approximately $555 million to $585 million, including an approximately $85 million Pine Hill impact before any insurance recovery. EMEA Q3 adjusted EBITDA is expected to be approximately $230 million to $250 million. Full-year adjusted EBITDA outlooks were $2.35 billion to $2.45 billion for North America and $900 million to $1 billion for EMEA. Management said the North America range top was reduced by about $50 million due mainly to the macro environment and prolonged Middle East conflict, and said first-half North America adjusted EBITDA was $902 million and first-half EMEA adjusted EBITDA was $390 million.

Andy Silvernail emphasized that the quarter showed tangible progress in execution, with better reliability, improved mill performance, and continued simplification of the business. He framed the strategy as an 80/20 approach: remove underperforming capacity, reinvest in higher-return assets, and strengthen customer service and cost position. His tone was confident but measured, repeatedly noting that work remains while saying the company is seeing positive momentum and is on track with the EMEA separation.

Lance Loeffler highlighted that earnings and margins declined year over year because of planned outages, the Riverdale conversion, softer EMEA demand, and margin pressure from higher paper prices and distribution costs. He said free cash flow was negative $7 million in the quarter, with $533 million of capital investments, and that North America adjusted EBITDA was $425 million and EMEA adjusted EBITDA was $182 million. He also laid out the near-term drivers behind guidance, including Riverdale ramp benefits, NORPAC contribution, higher OCC and energy costs, an approximately $85 million Pine Hill impact in Q3, and the expectation that a majority of Pine Hill losses could be reimbursed by insurance.

Analysts focused on the size and timing of the second-half earnings ramp, Pine Hill downtime, pricing realization, demand trends, and how much of the company’s prior cost-savings and commercial targets have already been captured. Management said the Q4 step-up is driven by Riverdale’s continued ramp, price flow-through from June publications, and ongoing cost-out initiatives, while diesel assumptions simply use today’s strip because the outlook is too volatile to predict more precisely. On Pine Hill, management said the mill should be operational by the end of August, the system is tight in the near term, and most of the impact is expected to be recovered through insurance, though details are still being worked through. On longer-term pricing and supply, Andy Silvernail said higher replacement costs make new capacity harder to justify, but overseas and other responses remain possible; he also said the company is still close to the 2027 expectations discussed two years ago, though he avoided giving a fresh forecast because of regulatory and transaction constraints.