IP International Paper
$33.85
▼ 0.7%Updated Oct 16, 2:25 PM ET
Report Card
IP at a glance — five pillars scored 0–100 from real filed financials.
How the 0–100 rating is calculatedOverall: Weak · 26/100. A wider, greener shape means more pillars look healthy. Dividends scores 0 when a company pays none — that is a choice, not a flaw.
Price — Past Year
▼ Down 20.2% in the year to Jul 6, 2026
Key Metrics
Market Cap
$20.54B
P/E
—
Forward P/E (est.)
—
ROE
-20.4%
Revenue Growth
-5.8%
EPS Growth
—
Profit Margin
-12.0%
FCF Yield
13.9%
Debt / Equity
0.66x
ROIC
8.0%
Interest Coverage
4.28x
Current Ratio
1.1x
Dividend Yield
5.1%
Implied Growth (rev. DCF)
—
Rating Score
26/100
Business Overview
International Paper (IP) is a large-cap company in the Paper & Plastic Packaging Products & Materials industry, part of the Materials sector of the S&P 500, with a market value around $20.54B.
In its latest reported year it generated about $23.63B in revenue and posted a net loss of $3.52B.
Our model rates IP Weak (26/100) on growth, profitability, financial health, and valuation. The summary below is built from its filed financials and current ratios and refreshes automatically.
Economic Moat
Evidence of durable competitive advantage in the filed financials (8 years of history).
Profit margins and economic moats, explainedThe numbers don't show a durable competitive advantage — margins, growth, or returns on capital have been unstable or thin. Great returns are still possible; they just aren't protected.
grew in 3 of the last 7 year-over-year periods
positive in 7 of 8 years
8.0% latest fiscal year
A moat can't be proven by numbers alone — this scores the evidence a durable advantage leaves behind (pricing power, consistency, returns on capital), computed the same way for every stock. Pair it with the business overview before concluding anything.
Technical Analysis (Educational)
Technical analysis reads price and volume to judge momentum and timing. It complements the fundamentals above — it does not replace them. Here is what IP's chart says today, with each tool explained.
Trend — moving averages. A moving average is the average closing price over a window, which smooths out daily noise. IP trades near $33.85, below its 50-day average ($33.91) and 200-day average ($39.38). Price below both averages is a downtrend — momentum is against buyers for now.
Momentum — RSI. The Relative Strength Index runs 0–100 and measures how strong recent gains are versus losses. Above 70 is "overbought", below 30 "oversold". At 78 it is overbought — the recent rally is stretched and can cool off.
MACD. MACD compares two moving averages to flag shifts in momentum. Its histogram is currently positive — short-term momentum is improving.
Volatility — ATR. Average True Range is the typical daily move. IP's is $1.30 (~3.8% of price), so swings of about that size each day are normal — handy for setting a stop that isn't too tight.
Support & resistance. In the month to Jul 6, 2026, IP found buyers near $31.78 (support) and sellers near $39.82 (resistance); its 52-week range then was $29.26–$56.13. A decisive break beyond either edge often marks the next move.
Volume. The latest session traded 0.5× the 20-day average — lighter than usual, so the move carries less conviction. Rising volume on up-days suggests real buying; on down-days, real selling.
Educational information to help you read a chart — not a recommendation or a forecast. The indicators were last computed on Jul 6, 2026; the price is current.
Revenue Growth
4Y CAGR
5.1%
Revenue moved from $23.31B in 2018 to $23.63B in 2025, a 0.2% compound annual growth rate. The most recent year declined 5.8% year over year. Shrinking revenue is worth a closer look — is it cyclical or structural?
Profitability
Gross Margin
29.3%
Operating Margin
-11.8%
Net Margin
-14.9%
ROE
-20.4%
International Paper keeps about -12.0% of each sales dollar as net profit, with a 29.3% gross margin and -11.8% operating margin. Return on equity is -20.4% and return on invested capital about 8.0%. The company is currently unprofitable on a net basis.
Debt Analysis
Total Debt
$8.67B
Net Debt
$7.95B
Net Debt / EBITDA
—
Debt / Equity
0.66x
Leverage: debt-to-equity is 0.7x, and operating profit covers interest about 4.3x, with a current ratio of 1.1x. That is a moderate, manageable debt load for most businesses. It carries roughly $8.67B of total debt against $726.00M of cash.
Cash Flow Analysis
Operating CF
$1.70B
Free Cash Flow
-$159.00M
FCF Margin
-0.7%
In the latest year International Paper produced about $1.70B of operating cash flow but negative free cash flow as it invested heavily. That is a free-cash-flow yield of about 13.9% on today's price. Strong cash generation funds dividends, buybacks, and reinvestment.
Dividend Safety
Can the payout survive a bad year? Scored from filed cash flow, earnings coverage, and the raise/cut record.
What to look for in a dividend stockCoverage is weak, the payout was cut recently, or it's being financed rather than earned — treat the current yield as fragile.
Dividend yield
5.1%
Per share (latest FY)
$1.85
Total paid (latest FY)
$977.00M
History on record
8 years
free cash flow was negative in the latest year — the dividend is being financed
total dividends increased 2 years in a row
payout was cut at least once in the last 8 years
Coverage uses the latest fiscal year as filed with the SEC; the streak counts total dollars paid (per-share figures can carry split artifacts). Educational information, not income advice.
Valuation Analysis
P/E
—
P/S
0.81x
P/B
1.31x
EV / EBITDA
—
IP trades at n/a trailing earnings, 0.8x sales, and 1.3x book value. With no positive trailing earnings, value it on sales, cash flow, or growth rather than P/E.
Metrics vs. Sector Range
Where IP sits versus the Materials companies we cover.
Bands show the middle half (25th–75th percentile) of the 54 Materials companies in our coverage that have fundamentals data — the peer-relative anchor professional comps analysis uses. Context only — not investment advice.
Sector Peer Comparison
How IP stacks up against its Materials peers — valuation, profitability, and growth versus the sector median.
Among the 54 rated Materials companies we cover, IP ranks #50 by our overall rating.
P/E vs sector
—
median 20.1x
ROE vs sector
-20.4%
median 16.1%
Growth vs sector
-5.8%
median 7.9%
Sector rank
#50
of 54 rated
Valuation vs. quality map
The sweet spot is upper-left: more profitable (higher ROE) for a lower P/E. Dashed lines mark the sector median.
Peers are the closest Materials companies by sub-industry and size, preferring ones with full data. Sector medians and rank use the 54 rated companies among the 78 Materials stocks we cover. Educational, not a recommendation.
5-Year Projection Model
Project revenue → earnings → price. Edit the assumptions to build your own case.
What drives this projection, and its limits2030 scenario price range (Base Case)
$16.25 – $27.09
vs. $33.85 today · implied CAGR -14% – -4%
| Metric | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $24.34B | $25.07B | $25.83B | $26.60B | $27.40B |
| Net income | $730.29M | $752.20M | $774.77M | $798.01M | $821.95M |
| EPS | $1.20 | $1.24 | $1.28 | $1.32 | $1.35 |
| Share price (low) | $14.44 | $14.88 | $15.32 | $15.78 | $16.25 |
| Share price (high) | $24.07 | $24.79 | $25.54 | $26.30 | $27.09 |
| CAGR (low–high) | -57% / -29% | -34% / -14% | -23% / -9% | -17% / -6% | -14% / -4% |
Educational scenario model, not a forecast or investment advice. It starts from the latest annual revenue in SEC filings. By default, growth is trailing revenue growth (held between 3% and 45% a year), the net margin is the latest one (held between 3% and 50%, so a loss-making company is modeled with a small profit), and the Base case P/E runs from 60% to 100% of today's. Carrying recent growth forward five years can miss badly in either direction. Outputs are only as good as the assumptions. Growth, margin or P/E data is missing for this stock, so some starting values above are placeholders rather than measurements.
Bull Case
The case for IP:
- Healthy free-cash-flow yield (~13.9%) funds buybacks and dividends.
- Pays a 5.1% dividend on top of any price gains.
Bear Case
The case against IP:
- Revenue growth is slow/negative (-5.8%), limiting the upside engine.
- Thin net margins (-12.0%) leave little room for error.
- Our model's overall read is Weak (26/100).
Key Risks
Growth risk — sluggish revenue (-5.8%) leaves little margin for execution missteps.
Margin risk — thin profitability (-12.0%) is vulnerable to cost or pricing pressure.
Market risk — sector rotation, the economic cycle, and broad sentiment move the stock regardless of fundamentals.
Investment Thesis
On balance, the fundamentals screen weakly: International Paper is a large-cap materials business with shrinking revenue, with modest profitability, and a sound balance sheet. It trades at n/a earnings, which our model scores Weak (26/100). Weigh this against your own goals and time horizon — this is educational information, not a recommendation.
Analyst Ratings
What 21 Wall Street analysts covering IP recommend (September 2026). Consensus is a useful sanity check — not a substitute for your own homework.
Analysts have turned more positive over the last three months (+5 pts of buy ratings).
Latest SEC Filings
IP's most recent filings, straight from SEC EDGAR. Annual and quarterly reports are the deep dives; 8-Ks flag material events the moment they happen. How to read a 10-K
IP — frequently asked questions
Is IP a good stock to buy?
We don't give buy or sell advice. Our model rates International Paper Weak (26/100) based on its growth, profitability, financial health, and valuation — use that as a research starting point and make your own decision.
What is IP's rating on The Stocks School?
International Paper currently scores 26/100 (Weak) on our transparent model, which weighs real fundamentals: growth, margins, returns on capital, balance-sheet strength, and valuation.
How our ratings work →Where does IP's data come from?
Live price data plus real fundamentals and 5-year financials pulled directly from International Paper's SEC filings — refreshed automatically, not hand-entered.
How is the 5-year projection for IP calculated?
It's a scenario model. It starts from the latest annual revenue and net margin in SEC filings, grows revenue at an assumed rate (trailing revenue growth by default), and applies a P/E range built around today's multiple to show the resulting share-price range. When a stock has no growth or P/E data, the starting values are placeholders. It's a tool for thinking, not a prediction.
Is this IP analysis financial advice?
No. Everything on this page is educational research, not financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell IP. Always do your own research and consider a licensed professional.
Data notice. Fundamentals and financial statements are sourced from company filings (SEC EDGAR) and market-data providers; prices and market caps refresh on trading days and may be delayed. Ratings, projections, technical signals, and written summaries are model- or rule-generated for education and may simplify or lag the latest filings.
Not advice. Nothing on this page is investment advice or a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell any security. Do your own research and consult a licensed financial professional before investing.