International Paper (IP)
Forward P/E is 12.37x against a peer median of 14.98x, a ratio of 0.83x — below the fair range — with trailing P/E not available (shown as n/a; trailing earnings were negative) and PEG 0.34. Reported latest-quarter revenue fell 11.3% year over year (PRIMARY, EDGAR), but that change crosses business separations — quarterly revenue stepped up from about $4.7 billion to about $6.0 billion from the March 2025 quarter after the DS Smith combination, with a further business sale inside the comparison window — so it is not used as demand evidence here, and the label is judged on the forward P/E ratio and PEG alone. On those measures the shares are cheaper than peers with a very low PEG. Delivered demand check: the Packaging & containers group's median growth was 12.8% — demand rising across the group.
What would change this label: Move to FAIRLY PRICED if the forward P/E rises to about 13.5x or above (0.90x the peer median) at unchanged estimates, or if the first clean post-separation year-over-year revenue comparison shows revenue falling more than 5% — that would turn the discount into a value-trap warning. Move to OVERVALUED if the forward P/E rises above about 17.2x (1.15x the peer median) without a matching rise in clean-comparison growth.
International Paper makes cardboard boxes and packaging that online shopping and food deliveries rely on. It combined with DS Smith and sold a fibers business, so the reported sales fall reflects a changed company boundary, not a clean demand read. On price alone, the shares are cheaper than similar packaging companies, which looks like good value if the cleaner comparisons hold up.
Both lines start at 100 on 2020-09-01. Over the full window International Paper returned -6.66% and the S&P 500 +118.28% (price returns; dividends not reinvested). Worst peak-to-trough fall for International Paper: -52.7% (2021-06-04 to 2023-06-01). Source: Nasdaq official daily history.
What the label rests on
Forward P/E is 12.37x against a peer median of 14.98x, a ratio of 0.83x — below the fair range — with trailing P/E not available (shown as n/a; trailing earnings were negative) and PEG 0.34. Reported latest-quarter revenue fell 11.3% year over year (PRIMARY, EDGAR), but that change crosses business separations — quarterly revenue stepped up from about $4.7 billion to about $6.0 billion from the March 2025 quarter after the DS Smith combination, with a further business sale inside the comparison window — so it is not used as demand evidence here, and the label is judged on the forward P/E ratio and PEG alone. On those measures the shares are cheaper than peers with a very low PEG. Delivered demand check: the Packaging & containers group's median growth was 12.8% — demand rising across the group. The company’s forward P/E is 12.4× against a peer median of 15.0×. Its own history: UNVERIFIED — no sourced range available. Sector demand read: Delivered demand check: the Packaging & containers group's median latest-quarter revenue growth was 12.8% year over year (SEC filings) — demand rising. This company's reported revenue change crosses business separations and is not comparable, so no like-for-like company comparison is made. Latest-quarter sales growth was -11.3% versus a year earlier (SEC filings).
| Company | Price (Oct 28, 2026) | Forward P/E | Trailing P/E |
|---|---|---|---|
| International Paper (IP) | $33.56 | 12.4× | — |
| BALL | $62.90 | 15.0× | 17.9× |
| AMCR | $45.56 | 10.7× | 19.1× |
| AVY | $181.68 | 17.3× | 19.9× |
| SW | $39.64 | 11.5× | 44.1× |
| PKG | $247.80 | 18.4× | 30.6× |
| Peer median | 15.0× |
Multiples: stockanalysis.com (SECONDARY, S&P Global data), fetched Oct 28, 2026. Peer set chosen by sector; the median is the middle value of the set. The label and its numbers were recorded in the programme’s label registry on Oct 28, 2026 and will be scored at 6 and 12 months.
Sales, profit and cash
This company does not report a gross-profit line in its SEC facts (normal for banks, payment networks and some health insurers), so profit is shown as net income instead — gross margin is marked UNVERIFIED-absent rather than estimated.
Free cash flow = cash from operations minus spending on plant and equipment, both from the company’s SEC cash-flow statement. Gaps are quarters where that spending line is not separately tagged in the filings — shown as gaps, never estimated.
| Quarter | Sales | Gross margin | Net income | EPS (GAAP, diluted) | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q/E Jun 2026 2026-06-30 | $6.0B | — | $-12M | -0.02 | $-7M |
| Q/E Mar 2026 2026-03-31 | $6.0B | — | $60M | 0.11 | $94M |
| Q/E Dec 2025 2025-12-31 | $6.0B | — | $-2.4B | -4.52 | $255M |
| Q/E Sep 2025 2025-09-30 | $6.2B | — | $-1.1B | -2.09 | $150M |
| Q/E Jun 2025 2025-06-30 | $6.8B | — | $75M | 0.14 | $54M |
| Q/E Mar 2025 2025-03-31 | $5.9B | — | $-105M | -0.24 | $-618M |
| Q/E Dec 2024 2024-12-31 | $3.9B | — | $-147M | -0.42 | $137M |
| Q/E Sep 2024 2024-09-30 | $4.7B | — | $150M | 0.42 | $309M |
| Q/E Jun 2024 2024-06-30 | $4.7B | — | $498M | 1.41 | $167M |
| Q/E Mar 2024 2024-03-31 | $4.6B | — | $56M | 0.16 | $144M |
| Q/E Dec 2023 2023-12-31 | $4.6B | — | $-284M | — | $187M |
| Q/E Sep 2023 2023-09-30 | $4.6B | — | $165M | 0.47 | $240M |
The last twelve reported quarters. Full 24-quarter history sits in the data pack behind this page. A dash means the figure is not tagged as a standalone quarter in the company’s SEC facts (the usual case is the fourth quarter, which many companies only report inside the full-year filing) — it is missing, not zero.
Earnings: getting better or worse?
Each box is one quarter’s earnings per share (EPS). Green means EPS was higher than the same quarter a year earlier; red means lower; a dash means the figure is not tagged in the filings.
Basis: GAAP diluted EPS from SEC company facts, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
Key facts
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Company (legal name in filings) | INTERNATIONAL PAPER CO /NEW/ |
| Chief executive | Andy Silvernail (source: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/international-paper-reports-third-quarter-2026-results-302921498.html) |
| Sector | Materials — Paper & Plastic Packaging Products & Materials — makes cardboard packaging and paper products |
| Share price (Oct 28, 2026) | $33.56 |
| Market value (market cap) | $17.7B — share price times shares outstanding of 529,569,895 (SEC filings; SEC EDGAR dei EntityCommonStockSharesOutstanding (latest)) |
| Sales, last twelve months | $24.2B |
| Net income, last twelve months | $-3.4B |
| Free cash flow, last twelve months | $492M |
| Latest reported quarter | Q/E Jun 2026 (of 24 quarters in the data pack) |
| Six-year price return vs S&P 500 | -6.66% vs +118.28% |
| Worst peak-to-trough fall | -52.7% (2021-06-04 to 2023-06-01) |
What we could not verify
- Gross profit / gross margin: not tagged as a standalone line in this company's EDGAR company facts (common for banks, payment networks and some healthcare payers) — shown as UNVERIFIED-absent; the page charts revenue and net income instead.
- Own-history P/E range not yet compiled for this company in the Phase 1 batch run; the label rests on peer-median, growth and PEG evidence.
- Trailing P/E was shown as n/a on the statistics page (data-pack fetch note); EDGAR trailing-twelve-month EPS was -6.52, so no trailing multiple exists and the label rests on the forward multiple.
- Perimeter note: the reported -11.3% year-over-year revenue change crosses business separations. The quarterly series in the data pack (SEC filings) shows revenue near $4.6–4.7 billion through 2024, then a step up to about $6.0 billion from the March 2025 quarter after the DS Smith combination, and a fibers business was sold inside the window, so the year-over-year change is not demand evidence; the label rests on the forward P/E ratio and PEG alone, and the growth leg of the falsifier is keyed to the first clean post-separation year-over-year comparison.
- Guidance record (each quarter scored against the guidance the company gave the quarter before) is not yet compiled for this company — it is a Phase 2 layer. The earnings strip below therefore uses reported EPS versus a year earlier, which is fully sourced from filings.
The IT factor — the most exciting thing the market is overlooking — is not assessed on an X-Ray page. It belongs to the Deep Dive (Phase 2), where it gets the evidence standard it needs. Leadership-era scoring (the six years split by chief executive) is likewise a Phase 2 layer; this page names the current chief executive only, from a sourced profile.
Sources
- SEC EDGAR submissions — Filing index; company legal name.
https://data.sec.gov/submissions/CIK0000051434.json - SEC EDGAR company facts — Quarterly financial spine: revenue, gross profit, net income, GAAP diluted EPS, operating cash flow, PP&E capex, buybacks, dividends, diluted shares.
https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0000051434.json - Nasdaq official daily history — Daily closes for the company; SPY (assetclass=etf) saved as raw/nasdaq_spy_raw.json over identical dates.
https://api.nasdaq.com/api/quote/IP/historical?assetclass=stocks - Valuation multiples and peer figures — stockanalysis.com (SECONDARY, S&P Global data), fetched Oct 28, 2026; see valuation_label.md in the data pack.
Conventions: earliest-filed value per period, as first reported; cash-flow years-to-date differenced quarter by quarter; EPS never differenced; free cash flow = operating cash flow minus plant-and-equipment spending. This page is a dated snapshot — updates are new versions, never silent edits.