Clearwater Paper is a premier independent supplier of bleached paperboard to North American converters, and the question for the next twelve months is whether the company can convert the 8% Q2 2026 volume growth, the completed Lewiston Idaho planned major maintenance outage on time and on target at a total direct cost of $22 million, the restructured Cypress Bend Arkansas facility with a reduction of approximately 20% of roles and expected annual savings of $8 to $12 million, and the $59 million Q2 2026 net debt reduction into the kind of operational execution and cost discipline the company has been telegraphing. The Q2 2026 print was the cleanest test of that thesis, and the cleanest signal is that President and CEO Arsen Kitch said "we executed well during the second quarter, successfully completing the Lewiston major maintenance outage while reducing costs at our Cypress Bend facility. We delivered significant volume growth sequentially and versus prior year as we continue to maintain and improve share with our key strategic customers. We also significantly reduced our net debt during the quarter while continuing to invest in our assets." The strategic tension is the negative $8 million Q2 2026 Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations against the $40 million Q2 2025 Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations, and the forward question is whether the early signs of improvement in SBS industry conditions, with volume growth, lower imports, and increased operating rates, can compound into the long-run improvement in financial results the company has been telegraphing.
The 8% Q2 2026 volume growth and the $59 million Q2 2026 net debt reduction are the cleanest read on the operating quality, and the Lewiston major maintenance outage completion on time and on target is the proof. The Q2 2026 sales volumes of 328,722 tons grew 8% year over year. The Q2 2026 net debt was reduced by $59 million during the quarter and $50 million year to date.
The Q2 2026 net sales of $375 million, the Q2 2025 net sales of $392 million, the Q2 2026 net loss of $21 million or $1.33 per diluted share, the Q2 2025 net income of $3 million or $0.17 per diluted share, the negative $8 million Q2 2026 Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations, the positive $40 million Q2 2025 Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations, the $22 million total direct cost of the Lewiston major maintenance outage, the approximately 20% Cypress Bend role reduction, the $8 to $12 million expected annual savings from the Cypress Bend restructuring, the early signs of improvement in SBS industry conditions, the lower imports, the increased operating rates, the RISI SBS pricing increase, and the cost reduction, operational execution, and implementation of previously announced price increases anchor the print. The forward question is whether the early signs of improvement in SBS industry conditions can compound into the long-run improvement in financial results.