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Clearwater Paper Corp

For the period ended Mar 31, 2026. Filed Apr 28, 2026.

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About this filing

A company's report for each of its first three quarters. The financial statements are not audited. It shows how the business has moved since the last annual report, and what management says changed.

Mar 31, 2026 · Filed Apr 28, 2026

CLW$13.21-0.5%Stored close · as of Nov 9, 2026

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Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Clearwater Paper Corporation

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

NOTE 1: DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Description of Business

We are a premier manufacturer and supplier of bleached paperboard focused on servicing independent converters in North America. We also offer services that include custom sheeting, slitting, and cutting.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (U.S. GAAP) for interim financial information. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete consolidated financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included and are of a normal and recurring nature. These consolidated financial statements and related Notes should be read in conjunction with our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025. Results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for an entire year. All dollar amounts are shown in millions, except per share amounts.

NOTE 2: RECENTLY ISSUED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS

In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03, Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses (Subtopic 220-40), which requires disaggregated disclosure of certain types of expenses, such as inventory purchases, employee compensation, depreciation, and amortization in commonly presented expense captions such as cost of revenue and selling, general and administrative expenses. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2027. Early adoption is permitted. Adoption of this ASU will result in additional disclosure, but it will not impact our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

NOTE 3: DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS

In November 2024, we sold our tissue operations. The results of our tissue operations were classified as discontinued operations in our Consolidated Statements of Operations for all periods presented. For the quarter ended March 31, 2025, we recognized $0.4 million of loss from discontinued operations, net of tax and net cash used in operating activities of discontinued operations was $0.7 million.

NOTE 4: FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

Carrying amounts reported on the consolidated balance sheets for cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable approximate fair value due to the short-term maturity of these instruments. The fair value of our debt is included in the following table:

March 31, 2026December 31, 2025
2020 Notes, maturing 2028, fixed interest rate$240.9$258.2
ABL Credit Agreement (revolving loan), maturing 2027, variable interest rate79.064.0
$319.9$322.2

NOTE: 5 RECEIVABLES

Receivables consist of:

March 31, 2026December 31, 2025
Trade accounts receivable$165.2$156.8
Allowance for current expected credit losses(1.8)(1.8)
Unbilled receivables5.16.5
Taxes receivable23.127.4
Other6.46.5
$197.9$195.3

NOTE 6: INVENTORIES

Inventories are stated at the lower of net realizable value or current cost using the average cost method and consist of:

March 31, 2026December 31, 2025
Logs, chips and sawdust$26.8$28.8
Pulp10.310.1
Paperboard products117.1128.6
Materials and supplies115.5114.2
$269.7$281.7

NOTE 7: PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

Property, plant and equipment consist of:

March 31, 2026December 31, 2025
Land and land improvements$67.0$67.0
Buildings and improvements236.9232.8
Machinery and equipment2,051.02,046.1
Construction in progress30.132.0
Property, plant and equipment2,384.92,377.9
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization(1,398.5)(1,376.1)
Property, plant and equipment, net$986.4$1,001.8

NOTE 8: ACCOUNTS PAYABLE AND ACCRUED LIABILITIES

Accounts payable and accrued liabilities consist of:

March 31, 2026December 31, 2025
Trade payables$125.8$130.9
Accrued compensation29.933.6
Operating lease liabilities12.112.3
Accrued discounts9.614.8
Other22.423.9
$199.8$215.6

Included in "Accounts payable and accrued liabilities" are $6.9 million and $7.4 million related to capital expenditures that had not yet been paid as of March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025.

We maintain a program with a financial institution to provide our vendors with an option to receive payment earlier than our standard payment terms. As of March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025, $2.8 million and $3.3 million of outstanding obligations under this program were included in "Other" in the table above.

NOTE 9: INCOME TAXES

For interim periods, accounting standards require that income tax expense be determined by applying the estimated annual effective income tax rate to year-to-date results, unless this method does not result in a reliable estimate of year-to-date income tax expense. Each period, the income tax accrual is adjusted to the latest estimate and the difference from the previously accrued year-to-date balance is adjusted to the current quarter.

For the quarters ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, we recognized an income tax benefit of $3.7 million and $1.8 million on loss from continuing operations. Our effective tax rate for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 varied from the U.S. federal statutory tax rate of 21% primarily due to the effects of changes in state taxes and nondeductible compensation.

NOTE 10: DEBT

Long-term debt at the balance sheet dates consisted of:

March 31, 2026 · December 31, 2025
Interest Rate at March 31, 2026PrincipalUnamortized Debt CostsTotalPrincipalUnamortized Debt CostsTotal
2020 Notes, maturing 2028, fixed interest rate4.75%$275.0$(1.2)$273.8$275.0$(1.3)$273.7
ABL Credit Agreement (revolving loan), maturing 2027, variable interest rate5.0%79.0—79.064.0—64.0
Finance leases8.3—8.38.4—8.4
Total debt362.3(1.2)361.1347.4(1.3)346.1
Less: current portion(0.6)—(0.6)(0.6)—(0.6)
Net long-term portion$361.7$(1.2)$360.5$346.8$(1.3)$345.5

ABL CREDIT AGREEMENT

Our ABL Credit Agreement matures on November 7, 2027. The revolving loan commitment under the ABL Credit Agreement is $375.0 million, subject to borrowing base limitations based on a percentage of applicable eligible receivables and eligible inventory. As of March 31, 2026, our eligible receivables and inventory supported up to $213.3 million availability under the line, of which we utilized $82.5 million, consisting of $79.0 million borrowings outstanding and $3.5 million to issue letters of credit. Borrowings under the ABL Credit Agreement are also subject to mandatory prepayment in certain circumstances, including in the event that borrowings exceed applicable borrowing base limits.

We may, at our option, prepay any borrowings under the ABL Credit Agreement, in whole or in part, at any time and from time to time without premium or penalty (except in certain circumstances). We may also increase the revolving commitments under the ABL Credit Agreement in an aggregate amount of up to $100 million, subject to obtaining commitments from any participating lenders and certain other conditions.

NOTE 11: OTHER OPERATING CHARGES, NET

The major components of “Other operating charges, net” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 and 2025 are reflected in the table below and described in the paragraphs following the table. These items are considered outside of our core operations.

Quarter Ended March 31,
20262025
Integration costs0.13.8
Cost reduction plan0.75.3
Loss on sale or impairment associated with assets—0.1
Representation and warranty insurance proceeds(11.9)—
Directors' equity-based compensation expense(0.7)(0.4)
Other0.63.0
$(11.1)$11.8

During the first quarter of 2026, we recorded $11.1 million of income in "Other Operating Charges, Net." The main components include:

expense of $0.1 million associated with integration activities (primarily professional services);

expense of $0.7 million associated with our cost reduction plan;

proceeds of $11.9 million related to claims made on our representations and warranties insurance policy; and

reversal of expense of $0.7 million relating to directors' equity-based compensation which is remeasured each period based upon changes in our stock price.

During the first quarter of 2025, we recorded $11.8 million of expense in "Other Operating Charges, Net." The main components include:

expense of $3.8 million associated with integration activities related to the Augusta operations;

expense of $5.3 million associated with our cost reduction plan (primarily severance cost);

loss of $0.1 million associated with impairment of assets; and

reversal of expense of $0.4 million relating to directors' equity-based compensation which is remeasured each period based upon changes in our stock price.

NOTE 12: NON-OPERATING EXPENSE

The components of “Non-operating expense” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 and 2025 are reflected in the table below:

Quarter Ended March 31,
20262025
Interest expense$(4.7)$(3.4)
Amortization of debt issuance costs(0.5)(0.6)
Interest income0.30.6
Interest expense, net(5.0)(3.3)
Non-operating pension and other postretirement employee benefits(1.1)(0.3)
Total non-operating expense$(6.1)$(3.6)

NOTE 13: RETIREMENT PLANS AND POSTRETIREMENT BENEFITS

The following table details the components of net periodic cost of our company-sponsored pension and other postretirement employee benefit plans for the periods presented:

Quarter Ended March 31,
Pension Benefit Plans20262025
Service cost$0.6$0.8
Interest cost2.83.0
Expected return on plan assets(3.0)(3.3)
Amortization of actuarial loss0.90.2
Net periodic cost$1.3$0.6
Quarter Ended March 31,
Other Postretirement Employee Benefit Plans20262025
Service cost$0.1$—
Interest cost0.60.6
Amortization of actuarial gain(0.1)(0.1)
Net periodic cost$0.5$0.5

We record the service component of net periodic cost as part of "Cost of sales" and "Selling, general, and administrative expenses," while the non-service component of net periodic cost is recorded in "Other non-operating expense" on our Consolidated Statements of Operations. For the quarter ended March 31, 2026, we recorded $0.6 million to "Cost of sales" and $0.1 million to "Selling, general, and administrative expenses." For the quarter ended March 31, 2025, we recorded $0.7 million to "Cost of sales" and $0.1 million to "Selling, general, and administrative expenses."

NOTE 14: ACCUMULATED OTHER COMPREHENSIVE LOSS

Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax, is comprised of the following:

Pension Plan AdjustmentsOther Post Retirement Employee Benefit Plan AdjustmentsTotal
Balance at December 31, 2024$(47.8)$13.4$(34.5)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss0.1(0.1)—
Balance at March 31, 2025$(47.7)$13.2$(34.5)
Balance at December 31, 2025$(44.2)$13.7$(30.5)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss0.7(0.1)0.6
Balance at March 31, 2026$(43.5)$13.6$(29.9)

NOTE 15: STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

Common Stock Plans

We have stock-based compensation plans under which restricted stock awards and stock options are outstanding or granted subject to time or performance vesting requirements. At March 31, 2026, approximately 0.2 million shares were available for future issuance under our current plan.

Quarter Ended March 31,
20262025
Total stock-based compensation expense$0.6$1.0
Income tax provision (benefit) related to stock-based compensation$—$(0.3)
Impact on cash flow due to taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards$0.5$2.3

As of March 31, 2026, there was $11.6 million of total unrecognized compensation costs related to outstanding restricted stock unit awards.

During the quarter ended March 31, 2026, we granted 313,404 restricted stock units (time vesting) at an average grant date fair value of $14.73 per share and 169,753 restricted stock units (performance vesting) at an average grant date fair value of $14.69 per share.

NOTE 16: LOSS PER SHARE

Basic loss per share is based on the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding. Diluted loss per share is based upon the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding plus all potentially dilutive securities that were assumed to be converted into common shares at the beginning of the period under the treasury stock method. This method requires the effect of potentially dilutive common stock equivalents be excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share for the periods in which net losses from continuing operations are reported because the effect is anti-dilutive.

Shares excluded from the computation of diluted loss per share were 0.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 and 0.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 due to our loss position on continuing operations in both periods presented.

NOTE 17: COST REDUCTION PLAN

During 2025, we announced a plan to reduce our cost structure across operations and selling, general and administrative expenses as we right-size our operations after the sale of our tissue operations (discussed at Note 3). In connection with these activities, we incurred severance expense of $0.6 million associated with this plan, which was recorded in "Other operating charges, net" in the Consolidated Statement of Operations.

Changes in our severance liability (included in accounts payable and accrued liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet) for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 and 2025 are as follows:

Quarter Ended March 31,
20262025
Beginning balance$1.7$—
Employee severance charges0.64.4
Cost paid or otherwise settled(0.2)(3.6)
Ending balance$2.0$0.7

NOTE 18: SEGMENT DISCLOSURE

Our Chief Operating Decision Maker (CODM) evaluates performance and makes operating decisions about allocating resources based on financial data presented on a consolidated basis. Since our CODM evaluates financial performance on a consolidated basis, we have determined that we have a single operating segment composed of the consolidated financial results of Clearwater Paper.

Our CODM also reviews total assets, as reported on our consolidated balance sheets, and purchases of property and equipment, as reported on our consolidated statements of cash flows.

Our CODM utilizes other key operating metrics, including disaggregated measures of net sales by product line, disaggregation of significant segment expenses and Adjusted EBITDA in order to assess our financial performance.

Net sales classified by major product lines and a reconciliation of significant expenses to consolidated income from continuing operations is as follows:

Quarter Ended March 31,
20262025
Net sales by product line:
Food service$153.7$151.4
Folding carton124.9148.4
Sheeting and distribution38.938.8
Pulp and other42.739.6
Total net sales$360.3$378.2
Input cost (raw materials and energy)167.6168.4
Labor and overhead121.7117.1
Supply chain costs (principally freight)39.636.3
Selling, general and administrative expenses19.628.4
Depreciation and amortization23.421.5
Interest expense, net5.03.3
Non-significant expenses(0.2)10.8
Income tax benefit(3.7)(1.8)
Loss from continuing operations$(12.8)$(5.9)

Non-significant expenses is primarily made up of other operating charges, net and changes in inventory.

NOTE 19: INSURANCE RECOVERY

In connection with the acquisition of a paperboard manufacturing facility and associated business, we obtained representation and warranty insurance, subject to exclusions, a policy limit of $105 million, and certain other terms and conditions, to cover losses resulting from a breach of representations and warranties warranties in the Asset Purchase Agreement made by Graphic Packaging International, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Graphic Packaging Holding Company. We have notified the insurance carriers of alleged breaches of certain representations and warranties contained in the Asset Purchase Agreement. In July and November 2025, we submitted claims to the insurance carriers for losses arising of the alleged breaches. During the quarter ended March 31, 2026, we received a partial settlement of $17.5 million related to these claims, of which $5.6 million was related to reimbursable costs and recorded within "Cost of Sales" and $11.9 million related to other breaches and reported within "Other operating charges, net" in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. This recovery is in addition to the recovery of $23 million received in the fourth quarter of 2025.

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