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International Paper (IP) Beats Q4 Earnings, Misses Revenues

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With operations in North America, Europe, Latin America, Russia, Asia, and North Africa, International Paper Company (IP - Free Report) is a premier paper and packaging firm. The company is continuing with its restructuring initiatives to transform itself into a core packaging firm. IP is investing considerably to improve its North American containerboard mill system, enhance product quality and reduce manufacturing and delivery costs. These projects are expected to have a collective internal rate of return of 20%.

At the same time, IP is divesting its non-core businesses to focus more resources on high-return capital projects in its core businesses that can drive additional earnings growth. IP is likely to gain from its extensive geographic footprint, wide-ranging product portfolio and a differentiated service platform.

In the last four trailing quarters, IP has beaten estimates each time for an average positive surprise of 3.8%. As the extent of competition is increasing over time, investors have been eagerly awaiting for the company’s latest earnings report.

Currently, IP has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), but that could change following fourth-quarter 2017 earnings report which has just released. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

We have highlighted some of the key details from the announcement below:

Earnings: IP beats on earnings. The Zacks Consensus Estimate called for EPS of $1.19, and the company reported adjusted operating EPS of $1.27.

Revenue: Revenues missed estimates. IP posted revenues of $5,711 million, lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5,942 million.

Key Stats to Note: IP expects solid traction in the future with price increases, acquisition synergies and significantly lower outage expenses, thereby remaining confident to continue its earnings growth momentum in 2018.

Stock Price: IP shares were inactive following the release. It would be interesting to see how the market reacts to the results during the trading session today.

Check back for our full write up on this IP earnings report later!

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