Packaging Corporation of America (PKG)
Materials · $21.4B market cap · SEC CIK 0000075677
fundamentals score out of 100
Next reports on Oct 21, 2026, with analysts expecting $2.95 in earnings per share.
The case for PKG
- Revenue growing 10.3% year over year.
- Pays a 3.2% dividend while you wait.
- Current assets cover the near-term bills 2.9 times over.
The case against
- Earnings per share down 23.3%.
- Pricey at 30.9× earnings, against a long-run market average nearer 20×.
- Long-term debt of $4.0B against $529M of cash.
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Materials companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings, sales, assets and cash | 53 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 36 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 55 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 64 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 79 |
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 26 Materials companies.
Key numbers
| Price / earnings | 30.9× |
|---|---|
| Price / book | 4.55× |
| Price / sales | 2.2× |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +10.3% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -23.3% |
| Gross margin | 20% |
| Operating margin | 11% |
| Net margin | 7% |
| Return on equity | 15% |
| Debt / equity | 0.85× |
| Current ratio | 2.94 |
| Dividend yield | 3.22% |
| Beta | 0.81 |
| 52-week range | $191.50 – $259.98 |
| Position in that range | 68% of the way up |
| 3-month return | +4.1% |
| 1-year return | +12.8% |
Five years of financials, as filed
Pulled from Packaging Corporation of America's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are derived from the rows above.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $9.0B | $8.4B | $7.8B | $8.5B | $7.7B |
| Gross profit | $1.9B | $1.8B | $1.7B | $2.1B | $1.9B |
| Operating income | $1.1B | $1.1B | $1.1B | $1.4B | $1.2B |
| Net income | $774M | $805M | $765M | $1.0B | $841M |
| Operating cash flow | $1.6B | $1.2B | $1.3B | $1.5B | $1.1B |
| Capital expenditure | $829M | $670M | $470M | $824M | $605M |
| Total assets | $10.7B | $8.8B | $8.7B | $8.0B | $7.8B |
| Shareholder equity | $4.6B | $4.4B | $4.0B | $3.7B | $3.6B |
| Cash | $529M | $685M | $648M | $320M | $619M |
| Long-term debt | $4.0B | $2.5B | $2.5B | $2.5B | $2.5B |
| Free cash flow | $729M | $522M | $845M | $671M | $489M |
| Gross margin | 21.0% | 21.3% | 21.8% | 24.7% | 24.2% |
| Operating margin | 12.3% | 13.1% | 13.8% | 16.8% | 16.1% |
| Net margin | 8.6% | 9.6% | 9.8% | 12.1% | 10.9% |
| Diluted shares | 89.6M | 89.5M | 89.5M | 92.7M | 94.5M |
Share count is down 5.2% over 4 years. Buybacks have been shrinking the pie.
What Packaging Corporation of America says it does
" of this Form 10-K. We notified customers of a $70 per ton price increase for linerboard and medium effective March 1, 2026. Paper segment operating income was $130 million in 2025 and in 2024. Paper segment EBITDA excluding special items was $148 million in 2025, compared to $154 million in 2024. 1 The decrease was due primarily to higher operating costs and lower paper volumes, partially offset by higher prices and mix. Paper prices and mix reflected our 2025 price increase for office, printing, and converting papers. Industry and Busi ness Conditions Trade publications reported North American industry-wide corrugated products shipments were down (1.8%) in 2025, compared to 2024. Reported industry containerboard production decreased (4.5%) compared to 2024, and reported industry containerboard inventories at the end of 2025 were approximately 2.8 million tons, up 1.3% compared to 2024. Reported containerboard export shipments…
Risk factors PKG lists in its 10-K
- Year Ended December 31, 2025 Compared with Year Ended December 31, 2024
- Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses
- Non-Operating Pension Expense, Interest Expense, Net and Income Taxes
- Debt obligations and interest payments
- 2025 Fuel Purchased (millions of MMBTUs)
- 2025 Purchased Electricity (millions of CkWh)
- Increase (Decrease) in Pension Expense(a)
- Packaging Corporation of America Consolidated Financial Statements
- Opinions on the Consolidated Financial Statements and Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
- Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
- Evaluation of the value of the pension benefit obligation
- Fair value of acquired customer relationships intangible asset
- Statements of Comprehensive Income
- Total liabilities and stockholders' equity