New York, Feb 11, 2026, 14:39 EST — Regular session
- Smurfit WestRock shares rose about 11% in afternoon trade after it updated investors on 2026 earnings and long-term targets.
- The packaging maker forecast 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $5.0 billion to $5.3 billion and outlined a 2030 target of about $7 billion.
- Earlier this week it announced a Quebec paper machine closure as part of a broader portfolio reshuffle.
Shares of Smurfit WestRock plc (NYSE: SW) were up about 10.9% at $50.73 in afternoon trade on Wednesday after the paper-based packaging maker detailed a higher 2026 earnings view and set fresh targets through 2030. Packaging peers were mixed: International Paper added about 1%, Packaging Corp of America gained about 1%, while Graphic Packaging fell about 6%; the SPDR S&P 500 ETF was up about 0.2%. (Smurfit Westrock)
The update matters now because packaging stocks have been trading on small shifts in volumes, prices and mill downtime. Smurfit WestRock is also still proving out the merger math: costs down, cash up, and the balance sheet steady.
Smurfit WestRock was created when Smurfit Kappa bought WestRock in July 2024, and 2025 was its first full year as a combined company. At an investor event in New York, CEO Tony Smurfit called the economy “as difficult as I have seen” and said North America volumes had “a sharp fall,” while CFO Ken Bowles described the plan as “an acceleration.” (Packaging Dive)
For the fourth quarter, the company posted net sales of $7.58 billion and net income of $98 million. Adjusted EBITDA — earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, excluding certain items — was $1.172 billion, and adjusted free cash flow was $679 million, it said. It forecast first-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion and full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $5.0 billion to $5.3 billion, while also lifting the quarterly dividend 5% to $0.4523 per share. (Smurfit Westrock)
In its medium-term plan, Smurfit WestRock set a target of about $7 billion in adjusted EBITDA by 2030 and roughly $14 billion of cumulative discretionary free cash flow — cash left after planned spending — over 2026-2030. The company also flagged about $5 billion of dividends over that period and said it expects capacity for share buybacks from 2027, with a long-term net debt-to-EBITDA target below 2 times. Smurfit called the strategy “straightforward, disciplined and proven.” (Smurfit Westrock)
On Monday, it said it will permanently close a paper machine at its La Tuque, Quebec, mill with annual capacity of 127,000 tons of solid bleached sulfate (SBS). An extrusion facility in Pointe-aux-Trembles will also shut, with workforce reductions of about 30 and 60 positions, and North America chief Laurent Sellier called it a “difficult but necessary decision.” (Business Wire)
There are obvious ways this can go sideways. Packaging demand can fade fast if consumer spending or industrial activity softens, and pricing can move against producers even when volumes hold. The longer-dated targets also lean heavily on execution in North America, where the company is still taking downtime and reshaping the asset base.
What investors watch next is less inspirational and more mechanical: whether early-2026 volumes and pricing track the company’s first-quarter range, and whether cost actions show up in cash. The next calendar marker is the Feb. 17 record date for the quarterly dividend, which the company said is payable on March 18. (Business Wire)
