Introduction
Cardboard may not seem exciting, but it’s a big, important business. Cardboard is how more than 80% of consumer goods are shipped. Significantly, e-commerce has increased the demand for cardboard over the last two decades. This has been a double-edged sword for the industry—both raising volumes and prices for inputs. The industry has been consolidating for decades, leading to improving economics for the largest players. Packaging Corporation of America (PKG) looks like the best of the bunch, mostly because its strategy and execution: operating with enough scale to have cost advantages, focusing