The quarter landed below expectations despite slightly better sales. Adjusted EPS was $0.35 versus the published consensus of roughly $0.42, a 17% shortfall, while net sales of $8.03 billion modestly exceeded the approximately $7.99 billion consensus. The miss was therefore profitability-driven, not a demand or revenue shortfall.
| Metric | Q2 2026 | Q2 2025 / expectation |
|---|---|---|
| Net sales | $8.031B | $7.940B / ~$7.99B consensus |
| Adjusted EBITDA | $1.140B | $1.213B |
| Adjusted EBITDA margin | 14.2% | 15.3% |
| Adjusted basic EPS | $0.35 | $0.44 / ~$0.42 consensus |
| Operating cash flow | $765M | $829M |
| North America adjusted EBITDA | $704M | $752M |
| EMEA/APAC adjusted EBITDA | $380M | $372M |
| LATAM adjusted EBITDA | $124M | $123M |
Higher freight costs overwhelmed early pricing benefits. Adjusted EBITDA fell $73 million year over year, with the company’s bridge showing $90 million of freight pressure and $22 million of energy pressure, partly offset by raw materials and lower downtime. The margin compressed by 110 basis points, indicating that the claimed pricing recovery had not yet fully reached the income statement. (Second-quarter Adjusted EBITDA bridge; Reconciliations to most comparable GAAP measure)
The regional picture was uneven rather than broadly improving. EMEA/APAC and LATAM delivered modest EBITDA growth, but North America—the largest region—declined 6% to $704 million, alongside a 4.8% decline in corrugated volumes. That undercuts the release’s emphasis on improving commercial momentum: the key earnings engine was still absorbing cost inflation. (Segment results; Q2 Highlights Regional Split)
Full-year guidance was cut, adding a forward-looking negative. The company lowered its 2026 Adjusted EBITDA range to $4.9 billion–$5.1 billion from the prior $5.0 billion–$5.3 billion range, reducing the midpoint by $150 million. Q3 guidance of approximately $1.3 billion was maintained, but the lower full-year range acknowledges that freight and energy costs will weigh more heavily than previously expected. (2026 Guidance)
Net: this was a miss, not merely a noisy quarter. Q2 EBITDA was technically within the company’s prior $1.1 billion–$1.2 billion outlook, so the general cost-pressure story was partly known. But the sizable EPS miss, lower margin, weaker North American profitability and full-year guidance reduction make the filing worse than the market’s standing expectation. (Q1 2026 outlook; Financial Highlights)
Read the original 8-K on SEC EDGAR ↗