SUZB3 after 2Q26: why net income fell 64% while free cash flow rose

On 12 August 2026, Suzano released its 2Q26 results. Net income was R$ 1.807 billion, down 64% from R$ 5.012 billion a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA was R$ 4.705 billion (down 23%). Adjusted free cash flow was R$ 3.317 billion, up 27%. Those are three different answers to "how was the quarter." Keep them apart: the P&L that FX can swing, the operating line in reais, and the cash that moved. A fourth layer sits after the balance-sheet date. On 1 July Suzano paid US$ 1.3 billion for 51% of Arbex, the tissue joint venture with Kimberly-Clark. That P&L only consolidates from 3Q26.

What the earnings package actually shows

Figures below follow the company’s English earnings release dated 12 August 2026 (reference date 30 June 2026):

IFRS EBITDA (before the company’s adjustments) was about R$ 5.92 billion. The gap to the R$ 4.7 billion adjusted figure includes a R$ 1.158 billion fair-value move on biological assets. When a table says "EBITDA," check which label Suzano used.

Pulp is still 76% of net revenue: 2.897 million tonnes sold (−11% year on year, +2% quarter on quarter) and adjusted pulp EBITDA of R$ 4.184 billion. Paper sold 406 thousand tonnes; paper adjusted EBITDA was R$ 521 million (−27% year on year). Asia took the pulp volume cut. On the 13 August call, management framed that as inventory and maintenance scheduling in a region without the same contracted offtake as the Americas and Europe, not as a demand collapse.

USD pulp prices went up. Real revenue still fell.

Export net pulp realized US$ 601/t in 2Q26, up 8% year on year and 7% quarter on quarter. The company-wide average in dollars was US$ 599/t, also up 8%. In reais, the average pulp price was R$ 3,023/t: up 3% versus 1Q26, down 4% versus 2Q25.

The translation is mechanical. Average R$/US$ in the quarter was 5.05, versus 5.67 a year earlier (the dollar cheaper by about 11% against the real) and 5.26 in 1Q26 (−4%). An exporter that prices in dollars and reports in reais can post a higher USD net price and a lower BRL top line in the same quarter. Pulp net revenue was R$ 8.756 billion, −15% year on year, even with the USD price up.

Cash cost of pulp excluding downtimes was R$ 843/t (+1% year on year, +5% quarter on quarter). With downtimes it was R$ 972/t. The short-term guide for 2Q ex-downtime cost was about R$ 830–840/t; Brent averaged near US$ 97/bbl against an US$ 87 assumption. Full-year guidance of about R$ 800/t (ex-downtimes) was left in place, on R$ 5.07/US$ and Brent US$ 84. A quarter above the annual average is not a broken guide by itself. It does mean the second half has to come in lighter.

The 64% profit drop is mostly the financial line

Net financial result was a R$ 10 million expense in 2Q26. A year earlier it was a R$ 4.425 billion gain. In 1Q26 it was a R$ 4.616 billion gain. That swing is larger than the entire drop in adjusted EBITDA.

Closing FX moved only about 1% in the quarter (R$ 5.22 to R$ 5.18), versus a much larger dollar move a year earlier, so the accounting gain on foreign-currency debt shrank. Derivative mark-to-market income was R$ 976 million, versus R$ 2.659 billion in 2Q25. Cash from derivative maturities was still a R$ 824 million inflow, including about R$ 147 million on the oil-linked book.

Read the R$ 1.8 billion profit as net income after a quiet FX quarter, not as operations earning 64% less. Adjusted EBITDA is the cleaner operating comparison, and even that line is down 23% year on year: volume, BRL translation, downtime and logistics all went the wrong way. Sequentially the read is milder (adjusted EBITDA +3%, operating cash generation +14%).

Leverage rose while net debt fell

Net debt ended June at R$ 66.1 billion (US$ 12.8 billion), down 3% quarter on quarter and 7% year on year in reais. Cash was R$ 26.6 billion; with the undrawn stand-by facility the company cites liquidity of R$ 35.8 billion.

Leverage still ticked up: 3.3x in reais (3.2x in March, 3.0x a year earlier) and 3.4x in dollars, the ratio in Suzano’s financial policy. The numerator improved. The denominator (twelve-month EBITDA) shrank. A falling net-debt stock and a rising multiple can both be true in the same table.

On the 13 August call, CEO Beto Abreu said the next two to three years are about bringing leverage down, with no M&A in the pipeline. The May material fact still points to below 2.5x and net debt around US$ 11 billion in fiscal years 2027 and 2028. Treat that as a script, not as a completed print. Adjusted free cash flow of R$ 3.3 billion is the bridge in this quarter: working-capital release, R$ 824 million of derivative cash, and capex of R$ 2.54 billion (cash), 20% below both the prior quarter and 2Q25.

Arbex sits after 30 June

On 1 July 2026 Suzano closed the purchase of 51% of Arbex, the international tissue vehicle with Kimberly-Clark, for US$ 1.3 billion in cash (about R$ 6.7 billion). The JV started with about US$ 1.0 billion of net debt. Results consolidate from 3Q26. The June ITR does not include that P&L, and the US$ 12.8 billion net-debt print does not include the cash that left on 1 July.

The 2Q package is the pulp-and-paper company before Arbex. The 3Q package will fold a consumer-goods slice into the same leverage discussion. That is a sequencing issue, not a hidden 2Q miss.

How to use the explorer on this package

1. Open SUZB3 and look for the ITR with reference 30/06/2026, the statutory filing behind the earnings deck.
2. Pair it with the 12/08/2026 results materials. Label every EBITDA figure: IFRS versus adjusted (biological assets out).
3. Convert pulp prices yourself: US$ 599–601/t versus R$ 3,023/t. If FX moved 11%, a USD price up 8% can still be a BRL price down 4%.
4. Read leverage as a ratio. Net debt down and the multiple up can both be true when LTM EBITDA is falling.
5. Park Arbex in "subsequent event." The cash left in July; the income statement follows in 3Q.
6. For a live quote, use the company page. This article does not freeze a print-time price.

Limits of this reading

• A 64% drop in net income is not a 64% drop in the pulp mill.
• Leaving 2026 cash-cost guidance at ~R$ 800/t after a R$ 843/t quarter is a second-half claim. It still has to be delivered.
• 3.4x is at the top of the expansion band the company cites. The 2.5x target is a 2027–28 statement, and Arbex cash already left after the June close.
• One quarter of derivative inflows does not reset the leverage path.

Where to view in the explorer

• SUZB3 — Suzano S.A.
• Company list
• Blog

Sources

• Suzano 2Q26 earnings release (English), 12/08/2026 — P&L, volumes, USD/BRL prices, FX, cash cost, debt, FCF, Arbex subsequent event, cash-cost and leverage guidance
• Suzano investor relations notice, 12/08/2026 — company summary and CEO comment on efficiency and deleveraging
• InfoMoney, 12/08/2026 — Portuguese recap of revenue, Asia volumes, FCF and liquidity
• Money Times, 12/08/2026 — financial-result swing and leverage prints
• Valor Econômico, 13/08/2026 — earnings-call comments on M&A pause, 2.5x target, land sales, Asia mix and Brent hedge cash
• SUZB3 on the explorer — filings and quote

Disclaimer

This article is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment advice. Net income, adjusted EBITDA, free cash flow and leverage ratios are different layers; subsequent events such as Arbex are not in the June ITR. When in doubt, the official CVM filings prevail. Refer to those documents and, if needed, a licensed professional.