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Gansham Punjabi

Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at Baird

Ghansham Panjabi is a Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co., specializing in packaging, materials, and coatings equities. He covers key companies in the Containers & Packaging sector, with a strong performance track record including ranking No. 57 on TipRanks' Top 100 Wall Street analysts list in 2019 and No. 1 stock picker in Containers & Packaging by Thomson Reuters StarMine Analyst Awards in 2016. Panjabi joined Baird in 2009 after serving as a senior research analyst covering Containers & Packaging at Wachovia Securities and Lehman Brothers Inc. He holds an MS in Economics, a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California – Davis, and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington – Seattle.

Gansham Punjabi's questions to GRAPHIC PACKAGING HOLDING (GPK) leadership

Question · Q4 2025

Gansham Punjabi asked about the pricing dynamics in the U.S. paperboard industry, particularly concerning bleached paperboard over the next few years, and Graphic Packaging's internal strategies to navigate this period given potential customer opportunism for substitution. He also questioned whether the projected deterioration in the company's EBITDA margin profile (from 19.9% in 2023) indicates a structural industry change preventing a return to high teens, or if 2023 was an anomaly.

Answer

Robbert Rietbroek, President and CEO, explained that recycled and unbleached markets are balanced, but bleached paperboard is oversupplied with declining demand, leading to unsustainable returns for producers. He noted Graphic Packaging's high integration in its bleached business helps margins, but acknowledged the broader market weakness. Chuck Lischer, SVP and Interim CFO, confirmed AF&PA data supports this view. Regarding EBITDA margins, Robbert Rietbroek expressed confidence that margins would be restored to the higher teens in the long run through restored demand and cost management productivity, aiming to return to original Vision 2030 levels.

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