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By the numbers: Q4 and Full-Year 2025
2025 net sales: $13.2B
Up 11.6% year over year
2025 volume growth: 4.1%
Year-over-year growth was 6% in Q4
2025 net earnings attributable to Ball: $912M
Compared with $4B in 2024
- Overview: Ball reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results on Tuesday, marking new CEO Ron Lewis’ first earnings call since former CEO Dan Fisher departed in November. “I've met with dozens of customers and investors since assuming my role,” Lewis said. “I want to reinforce that our strategy is intact and it is working. It's about executing every day, staying close to our customers, accelerating the substrate shift to aluminum, and managing complexity to our advantage, and we are doubling down on profitable growth,” he said.
- Footprint expansions: Last week, Ball closed a deal with Benepack, giving it a pair of beverage can facilities in Belgium and Hungary. “These two plants will give us ample opportunity to grow volumes in the coming years, as well as operating leverage,” CFO Daniel Rabbitt said. Ball is “sold out” for North American capacity in 2026, but is planning to bring new capacity online in Millersburg, Oregon. That will result in startup costs in the second half of the year of about $35 million, when combined with costs associated with onshoring production of can ends. “Our goal is to keep reinvesting in our business. That's what Florida Can was about. That's what Millersburg is about. That's what Benepack is about,” Lewis said.
- Volume trajectories: Those expansions are expected to support volume growth. In North and Central America, shipped beverage volumes grew 4.8% in 2025, with Ball setting long-term 2030 guidance at approximately 1% to 3% growth. Ball is betting on bigger growth internationally. In the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, volumes were up 5.5% during the year, with a 3% to 5% growth projection for 2030. And in South America, volumes grew 4.2%, with a 4% to 6% outlook for 2030.
- Tariff impacts: “We expect some direct tariff cost in 2026 as we work to domesticate some ends productions in the United States,” Rabbitt said. Overall though, “tariffs are certainly something that every company is monitoring, but as we sit here today, there's no direct impact on our business beyond the ends piece that we've mentioned,” said Lewis. A bigger impact is the Midwest Premium: “That's what has really spiked for all of the aluminum industry,” he said. “But so far, the U.S. consumer has has been able to continue to keep buying our package,” with cans growing in the U.S. at roughly 2% in 2025, he said.
- Outlook: In addition to the World Cup this summer, there will also be celebrations for America’s 250th birthday, Lewis noted. “I can imagine that will also be at the very least neutral, and I bet it will be slightly positive, for all of us that sell beverages or help to sell beverages,” he said. In 2026, Ball expects earnings per share to grow by at least 10% and free cash flow to total more than $900 million.
