Amcor Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates on Berry Global Acquisition
Amcor Plc AMCR has reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.23, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.20. The bottom line grew 23% from the year-ago quarter. The results benefited from the Berry Global acquisition, strong synergy realization, organic volume growth and productivity gains, which helped offset a challenging macro environment and significant input-cost inflation.
Including special items, the company reported diluted earnings per share of 83 cents against a loss of 10 cents in the prior-year quarter.
Amcor PLC Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Amcor PLC price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Amcor PLC Quote
AMCR’s Revenues Benefit From Acquisition
Total revenues increased 26% year over year to $6.40 billion in the reported quarter. The top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.03 billion.
The sales increase was largely driven by the Berry Global acquisition and the pass-through of higher raw-material costs. Organic volume increased around 0.5% from the year-ago period.
Amcor’s Adjusted EBITDA Margin Expands in Q4
The cost of sales rose 20.9% year over year to $5 billion. Gross profit rose 49.4% year over year to $1.34 billion. The gross margin was 20.9% compared with the year-ago quarter’s 17.6%.
SG&A expenses were $568 million, up 39.2% year over year.
Adjusted EBITDA was $1.05 billion, a 32% increase from $789 million in the prior-year quarter. The adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 16.3% from 15.5% a year earlier.
The improvement reflected benefits from the Berry Global acquisition, synergy realization, organic volume growth and productivity. Amcor delivered around $115 million in synergies in the fourth quarter, ahead of expectations.
AMCR’s Segmental Performances in Q4
Global Flexible Packaging Solutions: Net revenues increased 18% year over year to $3.53 billion in the reported quarter. Acquisitions contributed 10% to growth, while the pass-through of higher raw-material costs primarily drove the balance of the increase. Volumes increased 1% from the year-ago period. Our model projected net sales of $3.32 billion based on an expectation of year-over-year volume growth of 1% and a favorable acquisition benefit of 7%.
The segment’s adjusted operating income came in at $533 million, growing 23% from $435 million in the prior-year quarter.
Global Rigid Packaging Solutions: The segment reported revenues of $2.87 billion in the quarter, marking a 38% increase from $2.09 billion in the year-ago period. Acquisitions contributed 32% to growth, while the pass-through of higher raw-material costs primarily accounted for the remaining increase. Volumes rose 0.5%. We projected revenues of $2.69 billion for the segment with positive impacts of the Berry Global acquisition of 32% and volume growth of 1%.
The segment’s adjusted EBIT surged 61% to $352 million from $219 million in the prior-year quarter.
Amcor’s Cash Flow & Balance Sheet Updates
As of the end of fiscal 2026, Amcor had $1.12 billion in cash and cash equivalents compared with $0.83 billion at the end of fiscal 2025. The company generated $2.15 billion in cash from operating activities in fiscal 2025 compared with $1.34 billion in the prior fiscal year.
AMCR generated a free cash flow of $1.30 billion in fiscal 2026 compared with $926 million in fiscal 2025. The company noted that free cash flow was below expectations due to higher-than-expected working-capital impacts related to the Middle East conflict and the timing of integration costs.
As of June 30, 2026, Amcor’s net debt totaled $12.90 billion. The company’s leverage stood at 3.5 times, in line with expectations. AMCR expects to recover more than $500 million in cash-flow impacts related to the Middle East conflict and the timing of integration costs over the next 12 months.
AMCR’s FY26 Performance
Amcor reported an adjusted EPS of $4.02 in fiscal 2026, up 13% from $3.56 in fiscal 2025. However, the figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.97.
Including special items, AMCR reported EPS of $2.38 compared with $1.60 in fiscal 2025.
Total revenues rose 57% year over year to $23.51 billion and beat the consensus estimate of $23.20 billion, largely driven by the Berry Global acquisition. Adjusted EBITDA increased 68% to $3.67 billion from $2.19 billion.
Amcor Provides Transition-Period Outlook
AMCR expects adjusted earnings of $1.80-$1.90 per share for the six-month transition period ending Dec. 31, 2026, as it changes its year-end from June to December.
For the three months ending Sept. 30, 2026, adjusted earnings are expected between 92 cents and 98 cents per share. Looking toward calendar 2027, the company expects double-digit adjusted earnings growth and is targeting leverage of 3.0 times by the year-end. Amcor also reaffirmed its three-year synergy target of $650 million, after delivering $285 million in fiscal 2026.
AMCR’s Price Performance
In the past year, the company’s shares have gained 1.3% compared with the industry’s 6.4% growth.
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Amcor’s Zacks Rank
AMCR currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performances of Other Packaging Stocks This Earnings Season
Packaging Corporation of America PKG reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $2.35 per share, falling 5.2% year over year but beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.31. The bottom line also came above Packaging Corp’s guidance of $2.33.
Packaging Corp’s revenues increased 14.7% year over year to $2.49 billion and surpassed the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion by 3.6%. Total corrugated products shipments reached an all-time quarterly record, rising 24.3% both per day and in total from the prior-year quarter.
Crown Holdings, Inc. CCK posted second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $2.49 per share, up 15.8% year over year. The figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.15 by 15.81%.
Crown Holdings revenues increased 16.5% to $3.67 billion and beat the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion by 9.88%. Global beverage can volumes rose 5%, led by 6% growth in Europe and 5% growth in the Americas. This was partially offset by softer demand in Latin America.
Sonoco Products Company SON reported adjusted earnings of $1.51 per share in the second quarter of 2026, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.47 by 2.72%. The figure rose 10.2% from $1.37 in the year-ago quarter. Pricing actions, favorable foreign-exchange movements and productivity gains helped offset the softer volume/mix during the quarter.
Sonoco’s revenues of $1.885 billion declined 1.3% year over year and missed the consensus mark of $1.886 billion by 0.05%. Sonoco’s top line declined from the prior-year period primarily due to the absence of sales from the ThermoSafe business, which was divested in November 2025.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
