Ball Stock: Is Wall Street Bullish or Bearish?
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Westminster, Colorado-based Ball Corporation (BALL) is one of the world's leading suppliers of metal packaging to the beverage, personal care and household products industries. With a market cap of $14.8 billion, Ball’s operations span various countries in the Americas, Europe, Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.
The packaging giant has significantly underperformed the broader market over the past year. Ball stock has tanked 23.8% over the past 52 weeks and 4.2% on a YTD basis, compared to the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 12.7% gains over the past year and a marginal 8 bps uptick in 2025.
Zooming in further, Ball has underperformed the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLY) 21% surge over the past year and 4% decline on a YTD basis.
Ball’s stock prices observed a marginal decline after the release of its Q1 results on May 6. The company’s sales observed a notable increase across geographies, leading to a 7.8% year-over-year growth in net sales to $3.1 billion, exceeding the Street’s expectations. While the company's non-GAAP net income for the quarter dropped 46 bps year-over-year to $216 million, its non-GAAP EPS increased 11.8% year-over-year to $0.76, driven by Ball’s extensive share repurchase program.
For fiscal 2025, ending in December, analysts expect Ball to deliver an 11% year-over-year growth in non-GAAP EPS to $3.52. Moreover, the company has a robust earnings surprise history. It has surpassed the Street’s bottom-line estimates in each of the past four quarters. In Q1, its non-GAAP EPS of $0.76 surpassed the consensus estimates by 10.1%.
The stock holds a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating overall. Of the 14 analysts covering the stock, opinions include six “Strong Buys,” two “Moderate Buys,” five “Holds,” and one “Strong Sell.”
This configuration has remained consistent in recent months.
On May 8, RBC Capital analyst Arun Viswanathan maintained an “Outperform” rating on Ball and raised the price target from $62 to $63.
As of writing, Ball’s mean price target of $61.54 represents a 16.6% premium to current price levels, while the street-high target of $78 suggests a staggering 47.8% upside potential.
On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.