On July 25, Packaging Corp of America rose 7.58% in regular trading, trading at $251.64/share, with turnover of $2.32 billion. The rally was driven by stronger-than-expected Q2 results and a wave of analyst target price increases.

The company reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $2.35, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by 1.73%. Revenue came in at $2.49 billion, slightly below the $2.502 billion estimate. Following the earnings release, Jefferies raised its price target from $218 to $242 while maintaining a Hold rating. UBS maintained its Buy rating and a $271 target, noting that PKG is realizing containerboard price increases faster than peers and expects the company to fully capture two $50-per-ton price hikes by year-end. UBS also highlighted that containerboard operations acquired from Greif outperformed management expectations in Q2 for the first time since the deal closed. Additionally, Truist Securities had previously raised its target to $270 from $258 with a Buy rating. The broader Paper Packaging sector rallied in tandem, with International Paper up 10.1% and Smurfit WestRock up 10.07%.

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