Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.11 EPS

30 Apr 2026, 22:10 by Jessica Moore · The Cerbat Gem

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW – Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.11), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $7.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.59 billion. Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.10% and a net margin of 2.24%.The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from Smurfit Westrock’s conference call:

Q1 adjusted EBITDA of $1,076 million (14% margin) was essentially in line with plan despite roughly $65 million of weather-related costs, and management reaffirmed Q2 EBITDA guidance of $1.1–1.2 billion and full‑year 2026 guidance of $5.0–5.3 billion.
North America delivered $597 million of adjusted EBITDA (13.3% margin) but faced ~ $55 million weather impact and $74 million of downtime; demand and order books improved in April, the company announced containerboard price increases, and it added ~600 new corrugated customers supporting a recovery trajectory.
EMEA & APAC outperformed with $421 million of adjusted EBITDA (15.2% margin) driven by its innovation centers and recent price actions (e.g., EUR100/ton recycled paper), but management announced consultations to close four small converting sites and a ~200k tpa U.K. paper mill and expects energy cost pressures in coming quarters.
Latin America again posted strong results with $109 million of adjusted EBITDA (20%+ margin), completed a corrugated plant acquisition in Ecuador, and saw tightening markets and improved pricing in Brazil and Colombia.
Management reiterated its medium‑term plan targeting $7 billion of adjusted EBITDA and a 19% margin by 2030 (and $14 billion of discretionary FCF over the plan) while launching a review of its London Stock Exchange listing that could lead to delisting to simplify structure and cut ongoing costs.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Down 3.0%

NYSE:SW traded down $1.18 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $38.50. The stock had a trading volume of 12,401,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,488,653. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Smurfit Westrock has a 1-year low of $32.73 and a 1-year high of $52.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.56. The company has a market cap of $20.18 billion, a PE ratio of 28.95 and a beta of 1.06.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4523 per share. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Smurfit Westrock’s dividend payout ratio is 136.09%.

Insider Activity at Smurfit Westrock

In other Smurfit Westrock news, CFO Ken Bowles sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.26, for a total value of $512,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 151,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,773,271.44. This trade represents a 6.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony P. J. Smurfit sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $2,061,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,660,119.40. This trade represents a 2.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Smurfit Westrock

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SW. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Smurfit Westrock by 90.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 6,378 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 5,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,188,000 after buying an additional 2,698 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 192.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $598,000 after buying an additional 8,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 41,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after buying an additional 12,096 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.38% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Smurfit Westrock

Here are the key news stories impacting Smurfit Westrock this week:

Positive Sentiment: Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.4523 per share (annualized yield ~4.7%); record/ex-dividend timing set for mid-May with payment in June — supports income-focused investors and signals confidence in cash generation.
Positive Sentiment: Company reported strong adjusted EBITDA of $1,076 million (14.0% margin) and positive operating cash flow of $204 million, which helps cushion the hit to net income and supports the dividend and balance-sheet stability. Read More.
Neutral Sentiment: Q1 revenue was $7.712 billion, roughly flat year-over-year (+0.7%); net income was $63 million (0.8% margin). These are factual results investors should weigh alongside margins and cash metrics. Read More.
Negative Sentiment: Reported EPS of $0.33 missed Street expectations (consensus ~$0.36–$0.44) and fell sharply versus last year ($0.73), driven by lower profits; analysts and coverage note weather impacts and weak North American volumes as key headwinds—main driver of the negative share reaction. Read More. Read More.
Neutral Sentiment: Investors can review the Q1 earnings call transcript for management commentary on volume trends, pricing, and regional performance to assess whether headwinds are temporary. Read More.
Positive Sentiment: Long-term bullish coverage argues SW remains an attractive pick based on industry positioning and cash-generative operations — relevant for buy-and-hold investors weighing the near-term miss versus longer-term potential. Read More.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $54.00 target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Smurfit Westrock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.91.

Read Our Latest Report on Smurfit Westrock

Smurfit Westrock Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Smurfit Westrock Plc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distributes, and sells containerboard, corrugated containers, and other paper-based packaging products in Ireland and internationally. The company produces containerboard that it converts into corrugated containers or sells to third parties, as well as produces other types of paper, such as consumer packaging board, sack paper, graphic paper, solid board and graphic board, and other paper-based packaging products, such as consumer packaging, solid board packaging, paper sacks, and other packaging products, including bag-in-box.