BALL vs PKG: Ball and Packaging Corp of America compared
The short version
From the latest prices and each company's SEC filings. Who's ahead on each measure, not which to buy.
- Packaging Corp of America is the larger company, worth $19.5B, about 1.3 times Ball.
- Ball grew revenue faster over the last year (+19.7% vs +14.7%).
- On earnings, Ball is the cheaper stock (16.7x vs 26.9x).
- Packaging Corp of America's price assumes faster free cash flow growth: about 9% a year, against 5% for Ball (reverse DCF).
Side by side
The stronger figure is shaded where higher (or, for valuation multiples, lower) reads as better. How the implied growth works.
| Measure | BALL | PKG |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $15.2B | $19.5B |
| Share price | $58.46 | $227.25 |
| Revenue (last fiscal year) | $13.2B | $9.0B |
| Free cash flow (last fiscal year) | $788M | $729M |
| Revenue growth, last year | +19.7% | +14.7% |
| Revenue growth per year, last 5 fiscal years | -1.2% | +3.8% |
| Operating margin | — | 10.9% |
| Net margin | 6.6% | 7.2% |
| Return on equity | 16.5% | 14.8% |
| P/E (trailing) | 16.7x | 26.9x |
| Price / free cash flow | 19.3x | 26.8x |
| EV / EBITDA | 10.9x | 13.9x |
| FCF growth the price implies | 4.5% | 8.8% |
| Dividend yield | 1.4% | 2.3% |
| Debt / equity | 2.50x | 1.36x |
| Fundamental grade | C | D |
| Superinvestors holding it | 3 | 0 |
| Insider purchases, last 12 months | 1 | 8 |
Results from SEC filings
Revenue and free cash flow by fiscal year, from each company's 10-K filings.
Ball
| Year | Revenue | Free cash flow | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $13.8B | $34M | 9.3% |
| 2022 | $13.4B | -$1.4B | 9.1% |
| 2023 | $12.1B | $818M | 10.6% |
| 2024 | $11.8B | -$369M | — |
| 2025 | $13.2B | $788M | — |
Packaging Corp of America
| Year | Revenue | Free cash flow | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $7.7B | $489M | 16.1% |
| 2022 | $8.5B | $671M | 16.8% |
| 2023 | $7.8B | $845M | 13.8% |
| 2024 | $8.4B | $522M | 13.1% |
| 2025 | $9.0B | $729M | 12.3% |
Where the revenue comes from
Ball · by segments, 2025
Beverage packaging, North And Central America$6.3B51%
Beverage packaging, EMEA$4.0B32%
Beverage packaging, South America$2.2B17%
Packaging Corp of America · by segments, 2025
Packaging$8.3B91%
Paper$615M7%
Corporate and Other$234M3%
Compare them in fullFifteen years of statements, quarterly results, DCF and IRR models, and any number of peers side by side.
Open BALL in InvestinglyQuestions
Which is bigger, Ball or Packaging Corp of America?
Packaging Corp of America (PKG), at $19.5B against $15.2B.
Is BALL or PKG cheaper?
By trailing P/E, Ball (16.7x) is cheaper than Packaging Corp of America (26.9x). A lower multiple can also mean the market expects less growth.
Which grows faster, BALL or PKG?
Ball: revenue grew +19.7% over the last year, against +14.7%.
Prices and ratios as of the last daily update; statements from SEC filings. Information only, not investment advice.