Veritiv Corp opened 30% up on Wednesday: here’s why

Shares of Veritiv Corp (NYSE: VRTV) opened about 30% up on Wednesday after the Georgia-headquartered company reported a record $40 million in net income for the fiscal third quarter – a close to 100% annualised growth.

Q3 financial performance

Veritiv said it earned $2.54 per share in Q3 on $1.77 billion in sales. In the same quarter last year, its earnings were capped at a much lower $1.30 per share on $1.59 billion in sales. In the press release, CEO Sal Abbate said:

Double-digit packaging sales growth contributed to our best earnings and adjusted EBITDA margin performance of any quarter in company history. Q3 marked the tenth consecutive quarter of year-over-year improvement in our packaging segment adjusted EBITDA margin performance.

Veritiv Corp valued its free cash flow at $36.5 million, as per the earnings press release. Including the price action on Wednesday, the stock is now up nearly 600% on a year-to-date basis.

Full-year guidance and other notable figures

For the full financial year, Veritiv now forecasts up to $9.0 of per-share earnings and at least $120 million in free cash flow.

Other notable figures in the Q3 report include the adjusted EBITDA margin that printed at a record 5.3%, representing a year-over-year increase of 220 basis points. CEO Abbate also said:

Demand and disciplined pass-through of supplier-driven inflationary price increases led to sales growth across most of our segments. The ongoing benefits of our 2020 restructuring plan, as well as commercial and supply chain productivity, drove significant financial improvement throughout the business.

Founded in 2014, Veritiv Corp is a Fortune 500 business-to-business provider of packaging, publishing, and hygiene products.