Packaging Corp. reports Q4 EPS $2.13, consensus $1.83

Reports Q4 revenue $1.94B, consensus $1.91B. Commenting on reported results, Mark Kowlzan, chairman and CEO, said, “Throughout the quarter, demand in the Packaging segment was stronger than our expectations. In addition, the higher volume along with the operational benefits of our capital spending program and continued emphasis on cost management and process efficiencies across our manufacturing and converting facilities drove operating and converting costs lower as well. We had an excellent restart of our Wallula, WA mill and the No. 3 machine to meet the stronger demand and build some needed inventory during the quarter. We plan to restart the No. 2 machine at the Wallula mill in the first quarter to help manage our expectations in the first half of 2024 for continued strong demand together with scheduled mill maintenance outages and the final phase of the containerboard conversion of the No. 3 machine at our Jackson, AL mill. The Paper segment had very good results with volume slightly higher than expected and costs managed extremely well.”