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By the numbers: Q4 and full-year 2025
Q4 net sales: $2.1B
Up 0.4% year over year
2025 net sales: $8.6B
Down 2.2% year over year
Q4 net income: $71M
Compared with $138M in Q4 2024
2025 net income: $444M
Compared with $658M in 2024
- Overview: Sales during the fourth quarter of 2025 were essentially flat year over year, said executives on Tuesday’s earnings call. It was the first earnings call for Robbert Rietbroek, whose career has spanned stints at PepsiCo and P&G, since being named GPI’s CEO in December and taking over the role Jan. 1. “In several of these roles, I've been a customer of Graphic Packaging, and my teams worked closely with the Graphic Packaging team to design winning packaging solutions,” he said.
- Market trends: One of Rietbroek’s early observations is that “the external environment remains challenged near term,” and that overcapacity in bleached paperboard markets is putting pressure on finished packaging. Plus, consumer demand for staples remains uneven due to affordability issues and macroeconomic uncertainty. “We are not simply waiting for markets to recover. We are focused on what we can control,” he said. Numerous customers are "reviewing their pack-price architecture," with many opting for smaller portions and a lower consumer price, Rietbroek said.
- Organizational review: Rietbroek announced that at the start of 2026 GPI initiated a 90-day review of its organizational structure and business operations, with upcoming actions to drive performance and profitability. This includes examining opportunities to optimize the company’s footprint and portfolio. “My goal is to simplify the organization, improve execution and eliminate inefficiencies,” Rietbroek said. The review is important because “consumer dynamics are changing. Certain packages are starting to accelerate, others are starting to decline. Consumption patterns are evolving as well,” Rietbroek said. “We need to rightsize our cost structure for the realities of the current macroeconomic environment.”
- Transformation: GPI executives aim to reduce leverage, and they anticipate the upcoming reorganization will generate greater free cash flow starting this year. The company established a transformation office and chief transformation officer position to enhance productivity and identify cost savings, Rietbroek said.
- Inventory reduction: GPI needs to “significantly reduce inventory,” which will also aid free cash flow, Rietbroek said. It aims to remove approximately $260 million worth of paperboard and finished goods inventory in 2026, said interim CFO Chuck Lischer. Cupstock will be an area of focus for inventory reduction, with executives offering reminders that GPI is primarily a finished goods manufacturer. The company decided to curtail some production in Q4 to manage inventory, and that will spill over to this year, particularly to the first half, Lischer said.
- Innovation plans: While touting GPI’s position as an innovation leader, Rietbroek stated the need for the company to accelerate the commercialization of new products. Substrate switches from plastic to fiber, namely projects to replace plastics and foam for food service customers, remain a key opportunity. In addition, “there’s a lot of private label embracing innovation quickly, and they continue to gain momentum — even in some categories that were historically insulated from private label growth.” The company’s transformation and innovation plans also involve “extensive deployment of AI tools,” Rietbroek said.
- Waco facility: Startup costs for GPI’s new recycled paperboard mill in Waco, Texas — which began production in October — came in below expectations, at roughly $40 million in 2025. Executives do not anticipate startup costs will continue into 2026, Lischer said. Last summer, leaders announced increased 2025 capital expenditure projections for Waco, from $700 million to $850 million, due to higher-than-expected construction costs. Actual spend for the year was $935 million, Rietbroek said, with total cost of the project estimated to be $1.67 billion. Now, GPI has launched “a review of the root causes” for the higher costs, and “corrective actions will be taken to prevent similar events from occurring in the future,” he said.
- Outlook: In 2026, executives are targeting $700 million to $800 million in adjusted free cash flow and net sales of $8.4 billion to $8.6 billion. Regarding business factors in Q1, the company is still assessing the effects from January’s winter storm; initial estimates are $20 million to $30 million in negative impacts.
