Clearwater Paper Corp filed its 10-Q with the SEC, and its figures are now in our data. Revenue over the twelve months to Q3 2026 was $1.5 billion, down 3.2% on the year before. That growth rate declined by 1.3 percentage points from a quarter earlier.
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts. Latest period shown: FY26 Q3.
View chart data
| Period | Revenue growth, TTM YoY | Operating margin (TTM) | FCF margin (TTM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY24 Q4 | 21.8% | -4.7% | -4.0% |
| FY25 Q1 | 36.9% | -4.5% | -8.5% |
| FY25 Q2 | 34.7% | -0.7% | -11.7% |
| FY25 Q3 | 23.0% | -4.2% | -8.7% |
| FY25 Q4 | 12.4% | -2.7% | -4.9% |
| FY26 Q1 | 2.3% | -3.2% | -3.5% |
| FY26 Q2 | -1.9% | -5.4% | 3.7% |
| FY26 Q3 | -3.2% | -1.6% | 3.8% |
The main points
Net income fell 98.3% over the year while free cash flow rose 57.6%, indicating that reported profit and cash are moving at different speeds. Revenue dropped 3.2% yet the operating margin increased by 2.6 percentage points, showing the company is earning more on less.
Profit and margins
Reported cash is holding up better than reported profit. The trailing gross margin stood at 1.8%, while the trailing operating margin was negative at −1.6%, an increase of 2.6 percentage points from a year earlier. The trailing net margin was 0.2%. Net income over the twelve months reached $2.4 million, down 98.3% on the year before.
Cash flow
Sales fell but margins widened as the company earned more on less. Operating cash flow over the twelve months hit $105.1 million, up 205.4% on the year before. Capital spending totaled $48.3 million, or 3.2% of revenue. Free cash flow, defined as operating cash flow less capital spending, came to $56.8 million, rising 57.6% on the year before. This represented a free-cash-flow margin of 3.8%, up 12.4 percentage points from a year earlier.
The share base
The average diluted share count decreased by 1.9% over the year.
How today compares
In the context of past results, today’s free-cash-flow margin of 3.8% is higher than 74% of the company’s own past quarterly readings, which have ranged from −14.6% to 17.2%. Today’s operating margin of −1.6% exceeds 19% of past readings (−8.4% to 18.4%). The twelve-month revenue growth rate of −3.2% is higher than 22% of past readings (−75.1% to 148.5%).
The valuation angle
Our model translates these figures into value. In our model, a reduction in growth by 5 percentage points would lower the value by 47.7%, while an increase of 5 percentage points would raise it by 62.7%. A free-cash-flow margin decrease of 1 percentage point would lower the value by 38.9%.
Next to watch
The next filing will show whether the trends above continue, slow or reverse.
