International Paper (IP) Stock Forecast and Price Target (2026)
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
11 analysts covering International Paper (IP) carry an average price target of $43.64 as of July 2026, +2.1% against the $42.75 price at the time of the pull. The published targets run from $39.00 to $61.00, a spread of 50% of the average, so the disagreement is moderate. The rating split is 8 buy, 4 hold, 0 sell. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
IP analyst price targets
IP analyst data as of July 2026, sourced from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a forecast Walnut endorses, and targets are typically set on a 12-month view. Verify current figures before deciding.
The average target of $43.64 sits roughly in line with the $42.75 price, +2.1%. The median is $42.00, and where the two differ the median is the steadier read, because one unusually high or low target cannot drag it.
What the IP target range actually tells you
The published targets span $39.00 to $61.00. That gap is 50% of the average target, which counts as moderate disagreement. That is a fairly typical spread: enough agreement that the average means something, enough disagreement that it should not be treated as precise.
The useful move is to read the high target as one bull scenario and the low target as one bear scenario, then ask which set of assumptions you find more plausible. Both cases are worked through on the IP is it a buy page.
Recent analyst actions on IP
| Firm | Action | Target | Prior | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JP Morgan | Raised (Overweight) | $61.00 | $51.00 | July 28, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Raised (Outperform) | $48.00 | $45.00 | July 17, 2026 |
| Truist Securities | Raised (Buy) | $46.00 | $40.00 | July 15, 2026 |
| Citigroup | Raised (Buy) | $43.00 | $36.00 | July 9, 2026 |
| JP Morgan | Raised (Neutral) | $51.00 | $43.00 | July 9, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Raised (Overweight) | $42.00 | $39.00 | July 9, 2026 |
| UBS | Lowered (Neutral) | $32.00 | $40.00 | May 4, 2026 |
| Citigroup | Lowered (Buy) | $36.00 | $44.00 | May 4, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Raised (Overweight) | $39.00 | $38.00 | May 4, 2026 |
| Seaport Global | Initiated (Buy) | $39.00 | - | May 1, 2026 |
| JP Morgan | Lowered (Neutral) | $43.00 | $46.00 | May 1, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Lowered (Outperform) | $45.00 | $48.00 | May 1, 2026 |
The most recent published rating actions on IP within the last six months, from Yahoo Finance. Each row is dated because a target only means something alongside the date it was set. Walnut is not an investment adviser and does not endorse any of these views.
In the last six months there have been 7 raises and 4 cuts among these actions. The direction of revisions is often more telling than the level, because it shows which way informed opinion is moving.
How analysts rate IP
Of the analysts with a published rating, 8 say buy, 4 say hold, and 0 say sell, so 67% carry a buy. That buy share has risen over the last three months, so sentiment is drifting more positive.
Read the distribution rather than the label. Sell ratings are rare across the entire market for structural reasons, so a stock with no sell ratings is unremarkable, while even a handful of them is worth understanding.
Why a IP price target is not a prediction
- It is a 12-month model output. An analyst picks assumptions for revenue, margin, and a multiple, and the target falls out of the arithmetic. Change one assumption and the target moves a lot.
- The distribution is skewed. Sell-side coverage carries far more buy ratings than sell ratings across the whole market, so the average is not a balanced vote.
- Targets follow price as often as they lead it. Revisions frequently arrive after a move, not before, which is why a rising target is weak evidence on its own.
- Nobody is scored on it. There is no cost to a target that never gets close, so treat accuracy as unverified unless you check the firm's record yourself.
What could move IP from here
In short: the drivers cited most often are DS Smith integration and global scale, Cost cuts and footprint optimization, Planned geographic split. The risk cited most often against it is 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.
Both sides are worked through properly, with the high and low targets used as the bull and bear anchors, on the IP is it a buy page. This page deliberately stops at the numbers.
Investing in International Paper with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how IP fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is the price target for International Paper (IP)?
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The average analyst price target for IP is $43.64 as of July 2026, across 11 analysts. That is +2.1% against the $42.75 price at the time of the data pull, so the consensus sits roughly in line with where the stock trades. The median target, which is less distorted by one extreme view, is $42.00. Targets move constantly; verify the current figure before relying on it.
How high could IP go?
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The highest published target is $61.00, which is +42.7% against the $42.75 price. That is one analyst's most optimistic case, not a ceiling and not a forecast. The lowest is $39.00. The gap between them is the honest answer to this question: analysts who all follow International Paper closely disagree by 50% of the average target, so treat any single number as one scenario.
How many analysts cover IP?
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11 analysts publish estimates on IP as of July 2026. Of those with a published rating, 8 say buy, 4 hold, and 0 sell, so 67% carry a buy rating. More coverage usually means the consensus is better informed, though it also means the obvious points are already in the price.
Are analyst price targets for IP accurate?
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Treat them as informed opinion, not measurement. Two things are worth knowing. Sell-side ratings skew positive across the market, and IP is no exception at 67% buy ratings, so the distribution is not a balanced vote. And targets tend to follow the share price at least as often as they lead it, getting raised after a stock has already run. They are most useful as a read on what the informed consensus expects, and least useful as a prediction of where the price lands.
Has the IP price target been raised or cut recently?
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In the last six months there have been 7 raises and 4 cuts among the published actions on IP. The most recent was JP Morgan, which raised its target to $61.00 from $51.00 on July 28, 2026. The direction of revisions often tells you more than the level, because it shows which way the informed view is moving.
Is analyst sentiment on IP improving?
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Over the last three months the share of analysts rating IP a buy has been rising. That is a shift in opinion, not in the business, and it often lags the news that caused it. It is worth watching alongside the target revisions rather than on its own.
Will IP go up in 2026?
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Nobody knows, including the analysts publishing targets. What the numbers on this page tell you is where informed opinion currently sits and how much it disagrees with itself, which is genuinely useful and completely different from a prediction. The risk most often cited against International Paper: 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. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice, and does not publish price targets of its own. The analyst figures on this page come from a July 2026 data pull of published third-party research, are approximate, and change constantly. Verify current figures with your broker before acting on them.