Citi analyst Anthony Pettinari believes Paper & Packaging stocks have further room to run following International Paper's (IP) $50 per ton containerboard price hike, which has been followed by KapStone (KS). The analyst expects other major producers to announce hikes over the next few days. His analysis suggests that even in cases where hikes were anticipated, Paper & Packaging stocks tend to outperform in the months following the price hikes as investors gain confidence in the box portion of the price hike, which can take up to nine months to fully implement. Pettinari moved Berry Global (BERY) to his top pick in the sector citing the stock's relative underperformance year-to-date.

Reports Q1 revenue $4.62B, consensus $4.56B. "International Paper made progress executing our strategic initiatives in the first quarter,'' said Mark Sutton, chairman and CEO. "We saw commercial benefits from our business strategies, as well as cost benefits from mill system optimization. Although costs remain elevated and volumes were seasonally lower in the quarter, market trends continue to improve."