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Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc.: Q4 FY2025 earnings call

What management said about Q4 FY2025, from the documents filed with the SEC on 3 March 2026: press release. The quarter’s numbers.

Key takeaways

  • Quarter sales slipped, loss widened: Net sales were $417 million, down $5 million from $422 million. The loss from continuing operations was $21 million, or $(0.32) per diluted share, against $16 million, or $(0.25), a year earlier. Source
  • Adjusted EBITDA down $5 million: Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was $46 million, down $5 million from the prior-year quarter. Operating income was $11 million, unchanged from the prior-year quarter. Source
  • Cellulose Specialties sales and profit up: Cellulose Specialties net sales rose $6 million to $249 million, on a 7 percent higher average sales price. Operating income rose $2 million to $51 million. Source
  • Paperboard sales and profit fell: Paperboard net sales fell $16 million, or 27 percent, to $44 million. Operating results moved from income of $4 million to a loss of $1 million. Source
  • Full-year operating cash fell to $24 million: Adjusted Free Cash Flow was negative $88 million for 2025, against $95 million in 2024, with operating cash of $24 million, against $203 million. Source
  • Covenant leverage ratio at 3.9 times: The covenant net secured leverage ratio was 3.9 times at December 31, 2025, against 4.1 times at September 27, 2025. Total debt was $779 million and Net Secured Debt was $715 million. Source
  • 2026 priorities center on cash: Named 2026 priorities are positive free cash flow, leadership in Cellulose Specialties and year-over-year EBITDA improvement in every business. Source
  • AGE project involvement discontinued: Non-operating results included $3 million of charges tied to the company’s discontinued involvement in the AGE project. Source

“Various disruptions and a difficult demand environment pressured volumes, earnings and cash generation, and we delivered full-year revenue of $1.5 billion”

Scott Sutton, President and Chief Executive Officer

What changed from last quarter

  • New: Scott Sutton is named President and Chief Executive Officer; the Q3 release quoted De Lyle Bloomquist in that role. Source
  • Ended: Involvement in the AGE project was discontinued, with $3 million of related charges in the quarter. Source
  • New: Capital spending is to be prioritized and reduced relative to 2025. Source
  • New: Adjusted Free Cash Flow is redefined from the fourth quarter of 2025. Source
  • Ended: Adjusted Net Income no longer appears in the list of non-GAAP measures named in the release. Source

Results and growth drivers

  • Quarter sales slipped, loss widened: Net sales were $417 million, down $5 million from $422 million. The loss from continuing operations was $21 million, or $(0.32) per diluted share, against $16 million, or $(0.25), a year earlier. Source
  • Adjusted EBITDA down $5 million: Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was $46 million, down $5 million from the prior-year quarter. Operating income was $11 million, unchanged from the prior-year quarter. Source
  • Full-year net sales declined: Full-year 2025 net sales were $1,466 million, compared with $1,630 million in 2024. Source
  • Full-year Adjusted EBITDA lower: Full-year Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was $133 million, against $222 million in 2024. Source

Segment results, fourth quarter

  • Cellulose Specialties sales and profit up: Cellulose Specialties net sales rose $6 million to $249 million, on a 7 percent higher average sales price. Operating income rose $2 million to $51 million. Source
  • Paperboard sales and profit fell: Paperboard net sales fell $16 million, or 27 percent, to $44 million. Operating results moved from income of $4 million to a loss of $1 million. Source
  • Cellulose Commodities sales up 7 percent: Cellulose Commodities net sales rose $6 million to $94 million, on a 2 percent gain in both average sales price and volumes. The operating loss was $20 million, flat year on year. Source
  • High-Yield Pulp loss narrowed; Biomaterials up: High-Yield Pulp net sales fell $4 million to $28 million, and its operating loss improved $2 million to $6 million. Biomaterials net sales rose 25 percent to $10 million, with operating income flat at $2 million. Source

“performance we are not satisfied with and cannot repeat”

Scott Sutton, President and Chief Executive Officer

Costs, margins and pricing

  • Gross margin flat, selling costs lower: Cost of sales was $380 million, against $385 million a year earlier, and gross margin was $37 million, unchanged. Selling, general and administrative expense fell to $19 million from $26 million. Source
  • Energy and logistics costs rose: Higher logistics and energy costs offset gains in Cellulose Commodities. The prior-year comparison included a $3 million energy cost benefit from sales of excess emission allowances in 2024. Source
  • Cellulose Specialties costs lower: Cellulose Specialties operating income also benefited from lower costs after the 2024 suspension of Temiscaming operations and the 2024 Jesup plant fire. Source
  • Value-based pricing in Cellulose Specialties: Management said the company is taking value-based pricing actions to earn the returns its products deserve. Source
  • Corporate loss narrowed: Corporate operating loss improved $1 million, or 6 percent, to $15 million, mainly on lower variable compensation costs. Source
  • Pension settlement and SWEN charges: Non-operating results included a $2 million pension settlement loss and a $1 million increase to the SWEN put option liability. Source

Demand and volumes

  • Paperboard hit by new U.S. capacity: Paperboard average sales price fell 9 percent and sales volumes fell 19 percent, driven by mix and continued pressure from new U.S. capacity. Source
  • High-Yield Pulp demand lower in China: High-Yield Pulp average sales price fell 7 percent and volumes 6 percent. Management cited lower demand in China, oversupply of domestic pulp there, and shipping challenges to customers in India. Source
  • Cellulose Specialties volumes fell on 2024 orders: Cellulose Specialties sales volumes fell 4 percent, reflecting larger customer orders in 2024 tied to the indefinite suspension of Temiscaming operations. Source

“This is the path to converting improved EBITDA into cash, rebuilding a healthier operating base and positioning RYAM for stronger performance in 2027 and beyond”

Scott Sutton, President and Chief Executive Officer

Cash, debt and liquidity

  • Full-year operating cash fell to $24 million: Adjusted Free Cash Flow was negative $88 million for 2025, against $95 million in 2024, with operating cash of $24 million, against $203 million. Source
  • Capital spending and working capital: Capital expenditures, net of proceeds, were $116 million in the cash flow statement and $112 million in the Adjusted Free Cash Flow calculation. Changes in working capital and other items used $43 million. Source
  • Covenant leverage ratio at 3.9 times: The covenant net secured leverage ratio was 3.9 times at December 31, 2025, against 4.1 times at September 27, 2025. Total debt was $779 million and Net Secured Debt was $715 million. Source
  • Global liquidity $157 million: Liquidity was $157 million, including $75 million of cash and $72 million of ABL Credit Facility borrowing capacity, plus $10 million of France factoring availability. Source

Strategy, priorities and people

  • 2026 priorities center on cash: Named 2026 priorities are positive free cash flow, leadership in Cellulose Specialties and year-over-year EBITDA improvement in every business. Source
  • AGE project involvement discontinued: Non-operating results included $3 million of charges tied to the company’s discontinued involvement in the AGE project. Source
  • Employees behind execution-focused model: Management said employees are aligned and engaged behind an execution-focused operating model aimed at restoring cash generation. Source
  • Working capital and fixed costs in focus: Management said it is tightening working capital and addressing the fixed cost structure as part of its 2026 focus. Source

Reporting basis and filing status

  • Adjusted Free Cash Flow definition changed: From the fourth quarter of 2025, Adjusted Free Cash Flow adjusts for capital expenditures net of asset-sale and insurance-claim proceeds. The Q3 definition also excluded strategic capital expenditures; the 2024 figure was recalculated to $95 million. Source
  • Adjusted Net Income dropped from non-GAAP list: The non-GAAP measures named in the release no longer include Adjusted Net Income, which the Q3 release listed. Source
  • Form 10-K not yet filed: The company has not filed its Form 10-K, so the results are preliminary and remain open to change before that filing. Source

Figures management reported

FigureReported
Cellulose Specialties sales volume, fourth quarter 2025 Source128 thousand metric tons
Cellulose Commodities sales volume, fourth quarter 2025 Source111 thousand metric tons
Paperboard sales volume, fourth quarter 2025 Source35 thousand metric tons
High-Yield Pulp external sales volume, fourth quarter 2025 Source46 thousand metric tons
Cellulose Specialties average sales price, fourth quarter 2025 Source$1,875 per metric ton

Risks management discussed

  • Operational: Paperboard operating results were affected by market-driven downtime and the timing of planned maintenance outages versus the prior year. Source
  • Regulatory: Higher environmental remediation expense partly offset the Corporate improvement this quarter. Source
  • External: Comparing the two fourth quarters, foreign exchange was a $2 million unfavorable impact. Source

Other quarters

Summarised with AI from the documents the company filed with the SEC. Every point is checked against the filing before it is shown: management’s own words word for word, figures against the line or table row they come from. A point that fails the check is left out. Source opens the filing at that line.