IP vs PACB: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. IP and PACB share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined IP and PACB exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

International Paper is a leading global producer of fiber-based packaging, pulp, and related products, best known for corrugated containers and the containerboard that goes into them. Its boxes carry everything from food and beverages to e-commerce shipments and industrial goods, so demand broadly tracks consumer and industrial activity. The company sells mainly to businesses rather than consumers, and its economics turn on containerboard pricing, box volumes, input costs like fiber and energy, and mill utilization. As a large, capital-intensive manufacturer, it competes on cost, scale, and its distribution and converting network.

Full IP guide

Pacific Biosciences of California makes DNA sequencing systems built around its HiFi long-read technology, which reads long, highly accurate stretches of DNA. Its high-throughput Revio system serves production genomics labs generating reference-quality genomes, while the newer benchtop Vega, a smaller and much cheaper instrument, aims to put HiFi long reads on more lab benches and introduce new users to the platform. Like most sequencing companies, PacBio runs a razor-and-blade model: it sells instruments, then earns recurring, higher-margin revenue from the consumables and reagents customers buy to run them. In Q1 2026 revenue was about $37.2 million, roughly flat year over year, as stronger consumables sales offset softer instrument and service revenue, and gross profit improved markedly from a gross loss a year earlier.

Full PACB guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• IP drivers: DS Smith integration and global scale; Cost cuts and footprint optimization.
• PACB drivers: HiFi long-read differentiation; Vega benchtop and installed-base growth.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The main risk is cyclicality: box volumes and containerboard pricing move with consumer and industrial activity, so an economic slowdown can reduce demand and pressure pricing and margins, as recent low-single-digit volume softness showed. For PACB, the dominant risk is that PacBio is unprofitable and burning cash: it posted a non-GAAP net loss near $36 million in Q1 2026 and depends on reaching breakeven before its cash cushion is stressed.

Pick IP if you believe its drivers more; PACB if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the IP and PACB guides.

IP. Figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date; verify live numbers before acting. Packaging producers like International Paper are cyclical, so trailing earnings can be distorted by restructuring charges and where box volumes and containerboard prices sit in the cycle. That makes forward margins, synergy capture, and the value the market assigns to the two separated companies more important to the thesis than a single point-in-time earnings multiple.

PACB. Figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date; verify live numbers before acting. Because PacBio is unprofitable, standard earnings multiples like P/E do not apply, and the stock is typically valued on revenue growth, gross-margin trajectory, and how quickly it can reach cash-flow breakeven relative to its cash balance. That makes instrument placements, consumables pull-through, and quarterly guidance far more important to the story than any single accounting figure, and it keeps the stock volatile.

Headline figures (approximate, Jul 2026): IP shows transformation Completed DS Smith acquisition (Jan 2025); planned geographic split announced early 2026, synergy target At least several hundred million dollars from the DS Smith combination, 2025 segment strength North American packaging adjusted EBITDA grew sharply with margin expansion, 2026 earnings Expected to absorb substantial restructuring charges from footprint actions; PACB shows revenue (q1 2026) ~$37.2 million, roughly flat year over year, full-year 2026 revenue guidance ~$165 million to $175 million (company guidance), profitability Unprofitable; non-GAAP net loss ~$36 million (~$0.12 per share) in Q1 2026, narrower than a year earlier, gross margin Improving; gross profit turned positive (~$12.8 million) from a gross loss a year earlier.

IP and PACB are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined IP and PACB exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.