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Ball Corporation is a supplier of aluminum packaging products such as extruded aluminum aerosol containers, reclosable aluminum bottles, aluminum cups, and aluminum slugs for the beverage, personal care, and household products industries in the United States, Brazil, and internationally. Ball is the world’s largest producer of aluminum beverage cans.

Q2 2026

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Q4 2025

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Q4 2024

Ball (BALL): Company Profile, Stock Price, News, Rankings

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Ball

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Greetings, welcome to the Ball Corporation Q2 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Brandon Potthoff, Head of Investor Relations. Thank you, sir. You may begin.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. This is Ball Corporation's conference call regarding the company's Q2 2026 results. During this call, we will reference our Q2 2026 earnings presentation, available through this webcast and on our website at investors.ball.com. The information provided during this call will contain forward-looking statements. Actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those that may be expressed or implied. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made today. Some factors that could cause the results or outcomes to differ are described in the company's latest Form 10-K, other SEC filings, and in today's earnings release and earnings presentation. If you do not already have our earnings release, it is available on our website at ball.com. Information regarding the use of non-GAAP financial measures may also be found in the notes section of today's earnings release.

This presentation and the release include a summary of non-comparable items as well as a reconciliation of comparable net earnings and diluted earnings per share calculations. I would now like to turn the call over to our CEO, Ron Lewis.

Thank you, Brandon. Today I'm joined by Dan Rabbitt, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. I will provide some brief introductory remarks and discuss Q2 and first half 2026 financial performance and our outlook for the remainder of 2026. Dan will touch on key metrics, and then we will finish up with closing comments and a question and answer session. As we begin, I want to reinforce the same big-picture message we have discussed in prior quarters because it remains central to how we think about Ball's long-term value creation. The fundamentals supporting our business remain firmly in place. Packaged liquid volume continues to grow globally, and aluminum cans continue to gain share as consumers, customers, and retailers prioritize convenience, performance, and sustainability. These trends continue to support a durable runway of demand for our products. Within that growing market, Ball remains well-positioned.

Across our regions, we continue to benefit from long-term customer partnerships, a well-contracted portfolio, disciplined capacity management, and an unmatched global footprint. Together, those advantages support strong utilization and consistent commercial performance. We are pairing those operating advantages with financial discipline. Through the first half of 2026, our results have reinforced our confidence in the framework we laid out for the year, supported by a healthy balance sheet and a capital allocation approach grounded in EVA. We remain focused on investing where we can earn attractive returns and returning capital to shareholders. Operationally, our teams continue to make progress. Standardization, cost discipline, and the Ball Business System are helping us reduce complexity, improve productivity, and create a more repeatable operating model as volumes grow.

When you bring together attractive industry fundamentals, strong customer relationships, disciplined execution, financial strength, and an operating system built for continuous improvement, Ball remains well-positioned to deliver on our 2026 objectives and create long-term value for shareholders. Our first half results reinforce the resilience of our business and the consistency of our execution, even as the external environment remains complex. The strategy we have discussed in prior quarters remains clear, consistent, and grounded in four strategic pillars. Our first half performance provides further evidence that it is working. First, we remain focused on executing in our core business. That discipline shows up through service, cost management, and ongoing efforts to improve operational consistency across our plants and regions. Second, we stay close to our customers and maximize the strength of our global network.

Long-term customer partnerships, strong service levels, and a balanced footprint give us the flexibility to respond quickly and reliably. Third, we continue to accelerate the substrate shift to aluminum and expand into targeted categories. Aluminum's sustainability and performance advantages remain compelling, and we are focused on translating these advantages into disciplined growth. Fourth, we manage complexity to our advantage. Our scale, standardization, and systems help us stay focused on the levers we control and build more repeatable performance over time. The Ball Business System connects these priorities across the organization, helping us standardize best practices, improve productivity, and drive continuous improvement. At the center of that system are our people and culture. Low ego, high collaboration, and a shared commitment to doing the right things the right way.

That consistency is what supports our first half performance and gives us confidence in our ability to deliver on our 2026 objectives while continuing to create value long term. That is where the Ball Business System and EVA come together. One helping us to operate with greater consistency, the other guiding how we allocate capital to create long-term value. In the Q2 and first half, that discipline showed up in our financial performance while we continued to focus on delivering operational results in line with our Ball Business System goals. It is also why our 2026 framework remains unchanged. 10+% comparable diluted EPS growth, strong free cash flow, and consistent returns to shareholders. With that context, let me address how those priorities translated into our Q2 and first half results.

Turning to our Q2 performance, we continued to build on the solid start we discussed last quarter. Global volumes improved 4.3% year-over-year, with growth in each region reflecting continued momentum across our portfolio and keeping us on track with the full year volume outlook we outlined earlier this year. Comparable operating earnings grew 7.7% year-over-year, supported by disciplined cost management, commercial performance, and continued progress through the Ball Business System, even as we absorbed the previously discussed North American startup costs. That performance flowed through to the bottom line with comparable diluted EPS growth of 14.4%, reflecting operating earnings performance and capital allocation. Our first half performance reinforces our confidence in delivering 10-plus percent comparable diluted EPS growth for the full year. We also remain focused on shareholder returns and remain on track to return approximately $800 million to shareholders in 2026.

Operationally, we continue to advance our priorities, including integrating Benepack to expand our EMEIA capacity and continuing to make progress at our Millersburg facility, which remains on track toward full ramp-up in 2027. Overall, this was a solid Q2 and first half that reinforced the resilience of our business and our confidence in the 2026 framework. With that context, I'll let Dan walk through the details of our Q2 financial performance and provide more color on our expectations for the balance of 2026. Over to you, Dan.

Thank you, Ron. I'll walk through our Q2 2026 financial performance and provide additional context on the first half and our expectations for the balance of the year. Overall, the business continued to perform well in the Q2. Global shipped beverage can volumes increased 4.3% year-over-year, supported by growth across each region and continued progress against our full year expectations. Across both the quarter and the first half, our teams remained focused on service, cost discipline, and improving the controllable performance drivers that support our 2026 framework. As Ron noted, comparable operating earnings increased 7.7% year-over-year, and comparable diluted EPS increased 14.4%, aided by disciplined performance and capital allocation tailwinds. Our first half performance remains consistent with the financial framework we laid out for 2026.

In North and Central America, volumes increased low single digits year-over-year, consistent with our expectation for full year growth at the low end of our long-term 1%-3% range. Demand remained constructive in energy drinks and non-alcoholic beverages. Segment comparable operating earnings declined 2.4% year-over-year as higher costs, including approximately $5 million of startup costs, were partially offset by favorable price mix, including the timing of metal passthrough to our large customers who procure their own aluminum. We continue to expect full year startup costs to total approximately $35 million, with roughly $30 million expected in the second half. In EMEIA, volumes increased mid-single digits year-over-year, supported by underlying demand and the contribution from Benepack, partially offset by last year's sale of our Saudi Arabian business.

Segment comparable operating earnings increased 6.6% year-over-year, reflecting higher volume and favorable price mix, partially offset by higher cost. We continue to make progress integrating the Hungary and Belgian facilities. For 2026, with the inclusion of Benepack, we continue to expect volume growth above the top end of our long-term 3%-5% range. In South America, volumes increased mid-teens year-over-year as the region moved past first quarter customer timing and inventory impacts. Segment comparable operating earnings increased 64% year-over-year, driven by higher volumes and favorable price mix. Looking ahead, we continue to expect volume growth at the low end of our long-term 4%-6% range in 2026. Focusing on modeling details for 2026.

As Ron noted, with the resilience of our business and our passthrough models, we continue to expect to be on track with our long-term 10%-plus comparable diluted EPS growth goal. We anticipate free cash flow of greater than $900 million in 2026. Our 2026 full year effective tax rate on comparable earnings is expected to be slightly above 23%. Full year 2026 interest expense is expected to be in the range of $310 million. CapEx is expected to be in line with GAAP D&A in 2026. Full year 2026 reported adjusted corporate undistributed costs recorded in other non-reportable are expected to be in the range of $175 million. We anticipate year-end 2026 net debt to comparable EBITDA to be around 2.7 times, and we will repurchase at least $600 million of shares, which will bring our total capital return to shareholders to $800 million in 2026.

Last week, Ball's board declared its quarterly cash dividend. With that, I'll turn it back to Ron.

Thanks, Dan. In summary, the key message is that we are delivering against the framework we laid out for 2026. Through the first half, we grew global volumes, expanded comparable diluted EPS, generated strong earnings performance, and remained on track with our free cash flow and capital return priorities. That progress reflects the consistency of our strategy and the discipline of our teams. We continue to stay close to our customers, manage the levers we control, invest through an EVA lens, and use the Ball Business System to improve how we operate across the company. Importantly, our first half results reinforce our confidence in the full-year framework. We remain focused on delivering 10%-plus comparable diluted EPS growth, generating strong free cash flow, and returning approximately $800 million to shareholders in 2026.

We know there is still work ahead, our teams remain focused on the operating and commercial priorities that matter most in the second half. The first half demonstrates that the strategy is consistent, the framework is intact, and Ball remains well-positioned to create long-term value for shareholders. Thank you. With that, Christine, we are ready for questions.

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. While we poll for questions, thank you. Our first question comes from line of Ghansham Panjabi with Baird. Please proceed with your question.

Thank you. Good morning, everybody. Ron, I know comparisons are a bit tougher in the Beverage North America and Central America segment, given your performance from last year. Sort of looking back, how did the flagship events over the summer, including America 250 and the World Cup, impact your volumes? Was that material in any way, or were you supply constrained just given your footprint position at this point?

Hi, Ghansham. Nice to hear from you. Thanks for the question. We said coming into the year in North America that we were running notably tight. That certainly is the case. So we didn't see any really meaningful growth in North America due to America 250 or World Cup. What it did do coming into this quarter and quite frankly, Q3 that we've just started, it gave us a lot of confidence in the growth that we were going to see. That flowed through. The fact of the matter is, we are trying to bring this new plant up in Millersburg, until we do that, we will be notably tight, until we can get that capacity up and running.

Okay, great. Thanks for that. Then in Europe, adjusting for Benepack and some of the portfolio moves there and segment realignment, et cetera, what were underlying volumes during the Q2, and was that consistent with your expectations going in for Q2?

Yeah. Thanks, Ghansham. Let me answer at a high level, then I'll let Dan do some of the details. In general, our long-term growth outlook is 3%-5% growth. What we've said is, with the acquisition of Benepack for the full year, we should be exceeding that on an annualized basis. For sure, our organic business was right in line with what our long-term growth outlook is. There is some puts and takes in there with the change in the sector. Let me let Dan kind of detail that out for you, if you don't mind.

Yeah. Hi, Ghansham. I think really we grew our volumes Q2 on a little less than 500 million units cans compared to last year. The way to think about where it came from was our legacy businesses now in that segment are really the traditional Europe footprint that we've had for a while now, and some Asian assets. When you look at it, really those delivered mid-single-digit growth for that segment. The puts and takes that kind of neutralized each other was the integration of the Benepack business, and that came with some cans, but it also was offset by the loss of the Saudi Arabian business as well. Good performance. It was really all done on the assets that we brought into the year. We're overall pleased with where they stand.

Our next question comes from line of Anthony Pettinari with Citi. Please proceed with your question.

Good morning. The detail and the full year outlook are extremely helpful. I'm just wondering if there's any finer point you could put on kind of the cadence from Q3 to Q3 versus maybe kind of a normal seasonal cadence. You talked about the startup costs, and I think you talked about them in the second half. I'm just wondering if we could expect those to be more weighted towards Q3 or Q3, or if there are changes in energy costs in EMEA or just any kind of thoughts on what the Q3, Q4 cadence might look like versus a quote, unquote normal year?

Hi, Anthony. Thanks for the question. What we have said is we expect roughly $35 million worth of startup costs in the year. We've detailed about $5 million of those in the first half of the year, really in the Q2. For Q3, Q4, to be frank, it's a little challenging for us to give you a specific number. We still expect to see the $30 million of the $35 million flow into the back half of the year. What I will say is, really great news for us is our plant in Millersburg is now making commercial cans as of last month. We're looking forward to ramping that up, and you should expect to see the full benefit of that in 2027. We're just in the process of getting it ramped up. Wouldn't want to provide any more details than just the back half.

No, that's fair. Maybe just a related question. I don't know if you can give maybe some additional thoughts or color on the South American market, and your individual markets there, thoughts on the second half, given the Q2 outperformance. Some of your peers have maybe expressed some conservatism towards the end of the year. I'm just wondering if you can give any more thoughts given the really strong quarter that you had there.

Yeah, thanks for that question. We're, quite frankly, really pleased with our performance in South America. We noted last quarter that we were going to see a good Q2, when we knew that that was coming through, and I mentioned how we were doing relative to our Q1 performance when we talked about April. Firstly, South America can be volatile. We know that quarter to quarter. It's driven by customer activity that we have the privilege to serve, what time of year it is, et cetera. I think I would start by just saying, let's not get too fixated on any one given quarter. Last quarter, we were down a little bit. This quarter, we were up a lot. For the full year, we're focused on delivering against our long-term growth outlook of 4%-6%.

We came into the year saying we'd be on the low end of that range. We have even more confidence that we'll be at least at the low end of that range and maybe even into the middle of that range on a full year basis. Q1 and Q2 kind of offset, and we more than make up. We're right where we're supposed to be for the full year as we sit here today, through the first half of the year. Other than that, we're just focused on serving our customers. The can market in general, I would say can market in general in South America is very healthy. What is unique to us, and you mentioned it, is that we are the can maker in South America that makes cans in more countries than anybody else. We have a privileged place in the region.

What happened in the quarter, we drove strong mid-teen volume growth, combined with a really good network, really good operational performance, really good commercial performance, and that delivered meaningful flow-through. I don't want to comment anything specifically about individual countries other than to say outside of Brazil, which is the predominance of our business, all of the countries that are also in South America for us generally are accretive to our business, and this quarter was no exception. I would summarize the quarter by saying we have a privileged customer portfolio, and they enjoyed success from World Cup, and we benefited from their success.

Okay. That's very helpful. I'll turn it over.

Our next question comes from the line of George Staphos with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question.

Hi, everyone. Good morning. Thanks for the details. I wanted to spend my first question on operations, then second question dig into the volume outlook. Ron, if we look at the results, and they were certainly at least in line with your guidance, in North and Central America, though, even if we add back the startup costs, I think EBIT would've been comparable, would've been about flat despite volume growth. Recognizing there was inflation with Millersburg, I'm sure there are other factors that maybe hit the network, can you talk why you didn't see your normal or your at least targeted operating leverage? Within Europe as well, we had mid-single-digit volume growth. I don't think we saw, if I did my calculations right, the normal lift in EBIT relative to volume.

Was that, Dan, just a function of the different moving pieces one year versus the other in terms of the businesses there? How should we think about that?

Hey, thanks, George, for the question. I'll start, then I'll ask Dan to add a little color, if you don't mind. Starting in North America, we are notably tight, as we've said, coming into the year, and we did have volume growth in the quarter and the first half of the year in North America. With those high utilization rates, and quite frankly, some good volume growth that we knew was coming through, it equates to some operational friction, no doubt, and that puts pressure on everything. On the way we plan, on scheduling, on labor, on freight, maintenance, et cetera. A little shout-out to our teams that work in our plants. It's extremely hot. As I walk our plants, it's an environment that is challenging to work in, so thanks to them.

That's why, quite frankly, we're investing for growth. We bought a plant in Florida, as you know. It's fully operational for us and fully integrated into our network. Now we're bringing up this new plant in Millersburg, Oregon. That will relieve some pressure, and obviously support our customers, and help us to deliver operating leverage in the long term. From a European perspective, I would just say the acquisition that we made of the two plants, one in Belgium and one in Hungary, we knew that we are also quite tight in Europe, and these were two acquisitions that helped from that capacity standpoint. We also knew that we needed to get them ramped up and into our network. That will take us more or less the full year 2026.

We're similarly tight there, and it's similarly hot, and we are managing through that process. From an overall puts and takes, maybe Dan, you could take the back half of that question.

Yeah. Excuse me. As we think about the quarter, I think we have to say that the demand, the volume demand, was really strong. Strong in all of our markets. Our two biggest markets, both U.S., the North America, and the EMEIA segment, really came in with limited capacity, so we were pretty tight coming in. Volumes and orders came in really strong. It obviously put a little stress and strain on our network. Really, when you look at it, we never really wanted or had intended to be evaluated on every segment, every quarter on operating leverage. It's just not the way the business works.

You pointed out, obviously, that we came up a little short in North America, and that really does come from the fact that we saw some startup costs and also with the strong demand, it really just challenged us to deliver at times. These are good problems to have, because they're based on orders and strong demand. I think that's the main takeaway. I think the operating leverage in the rest of the company was pretty good. Actually, for the enterprise at large, it was fabulous. 8% operating earnings growth. We don't do much better than that, ever. That's a great mark.

Yeah, appreciate that, Dan. I just wanted to peer under the hood, so to speak. A point of clarification, was there any operational friction cost related to Benepack in Q2 that in some ways we should adjust for? The second question, Ron, you talked about strength, obviously, in energy and non-alcoholic beverages. What are you seeing and implying in terms of the outlook for alcohol, for beer? Has there been any change in momentum in some of the ready-to-drink and other categories? Thanks, guys, and good luck on the quarter.

Thank you, George. First on your question on Benepack operational friction. These are plants. One is a brand new startup plant, so we need to think of the plant in Hungary as just a startup plant. The plant in Belgium, we are working diligently to get to 24/7 operation, just like the plant in Hungary. I would say, in general, we're right on track with what we expected from those plants, but they are not accretive to our overall business yet, and that's what we said we were getting when we bought those plants. We're excited about them. We're really pleased. From a category perspective, I think you're maybe talking specifically about North America.

I'll start by saying this. The can is winning. It continues to win. It's been winning for years. We have shown volume growth across our business all of last year. In fact, accelerating last year. We've now completed our sixth quarter of growth. We expect that to continue for the foreseeable future. We had a really strong quarter, 4%+ volume growth on the back of a comparable 4%+ volume growth in Q2 of last year and a +4% volume growth in all of 2025. That's above what we expect from our long-term outlook. As far as categories, as I said, the can is winning, and we're focused on supporting all of our customers.

I would say the other thing about the dynamics of the beverage industry is the can is used to deliver value to consumers, be it in single format or really in the multi-pack format. We have a great customer portfolio. We're seeing growth even in a really tight capacity environment for us. As it relates to individual categories, I couldn't say more than what you see in all of the data that you all analyze and quite frankly, share with us. Beer along with soft drinks and energy is delivering growth ultimately for our business and for the can industry overall.

Thank you very much. Appreciate the thoughts.

Our next question comes from the line of Gabe Hajdu with Wells Fargo. Please proceed with your question.

Good morning, Ron, Dan. Thanks for taking the question in detail. I wanted to maybe ask and piggyback, I guess, on George's question a little bit differently. I think there kind of had been some commentary about alcohol as part of the portfolio being about 40% and maybe over time getting closer to 30%. I'm just curious if under kind of your purview and as you look at things, is that still sort of part of the initiatives across the organization? Again, I appreciate that you're servicing customers and making sure that they have everything they need. Is it maybe just natural attenuation if you're kind of projecting beer to be down low single digits in volumetric terms, the can continuing to win. Just help us think about that maybe over the medium term.

Sure. Thank you. Thanks, Gabe, for the question. As I said, the can is winning. As far as the category goes, beer is an important category for us, and it's an important category for the can industry, it's certainly not our only category, nor is it our biggest category. As you can see from our overall volumes relative to other substrates, the can does continue to win, and that's because of other categories continuing to pick up the pace. I would just say, number 1, consumers want convenience. That means they're gonna drink more from packaged beverages. When they drink more from a packaged beverage, more often than not, they're continuing and will continue to accelerate the pace of buying a can versus another substrate. We have the privilege and right to win in that environment.

I think regardless of what is being sold in that can, the can will continue to grow, we're gonna help all of our customers to win in that regard.

Appreciate that. I think last call, you mentioned being kind of 90% sold out in North America, or I should say contracted, excuse me, in North America, and then 50%, I think, through the end of the decade. Are there any updates there? Specific maybe to Europe, I think you mentioned picking up some business over there. Just anything material that we should be mindful of maybe going into 2027? Thank you.

Hey, thanks, Gabe. First of all, on our outlook for contracted volumes, we don't intend to provide a quarterly guidance on these calls as to what our outlook is. We provided that anecdotally. I would say there's been no material change to that. We are more than 50% sold out through the end of the decade. We said that before, and that's still true. The reason we shared that before is just to give you confidence that demand is out there from our customers. It's more of an anecdotal comment. We don't plan to update that on a quarterly basis. As it relates to Europe is the land of opportunity. Can penetration rates are lower than anywhere else in the regions we serve.

Sustainability tailwinds are stronger in Europe than they are in any other region we serve, there is more investment in can filling capacity anywhere else, than in the regions we serve. Europe is an absolute land of opportunity, you can see it in our as well as our primary competitors' volume growth this quarter and over the last several years. As it relates to customers and in contracts, et cetera, I would just say overall volume growth, nothing specific to any given customer or business we won that I would call out. Again, we will, given the acquisition we made, finish above the high end of our 3%-5% growth outlook for the year in Europe or in our EMEIA business.

We're really pleased with it, we're gonna continue to serve our customers with distinction there because they are really growing with the can.

Our next question comes from the line of Edlain Rodriguez with Mizuho. Please proceed with your question.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Quick question on the volumes by segment. How do you think your regional volumes did compare with the market? Essentially, did they lag or outpace the respective markets?

Thank you very much for the question. Let me just review where we said we would be for the full year, and then I'll tell you what I feel from the quarter perspective. For the full year, we said we will be in this 2%-3% long-term outlook. Maybe towards the high end of that range. We said North America would be on the low end of our 1%-3% range. We said EMEIA would be above our 3%-5% range, and South America would be on the low end of our 4%-6% range. In the quarter, I would say we grew low single digits, right in line with what we expected in North America. Some were higher, some were lower. In EMEIA, we grew right in line with the mid-single digits as we called out.

I think we were right in line with market, probably in both of those geographies. Clearly the standout was South America, where we grew mid-teens and the market was more flattish to up slightly. That's probably the puts and takes by region on our volumes in the quarter.

No, that's fair. Also, can you talk about capital allocation? Should we expect about $200 million of share repurchase in each of the remaining quarters, or will there be more nuance to that?

Yeah. Hi, this is Dan. I'm gonna take that question. From a capital allocation perspective, specific to share repurchases, we're still standing by the guidance that we've been holding at all year, and that is that we would repurchase around $600 million worth of shares and deliver close to another $200 million in dividend for a total of $800 million of return back to the shareholders. That still holds true. Through the first half of the year, we've done about $100 million of those share repurchases. That was also what was contemplated as well, because of the back half nature of our free cash flow. It comes in the back half of the year, and we really didn't want to take on the risk on the balance sheet by leveraging up to make those share repurchases.

Our next question comes from the line of Hillary Cacanando with Deutsche Bank. Please proceed with your question. Hillary Cacanando, your line is live.

Oh, I'm sorry. I was mute. Sorry about that. I know cans are winning, it seems like there's still substrate shift going on in Europe. In North America, would you say the volume growth is still coming from substrate shift, or is it more from new product launches? If so, are there any new products or category coming out over the next year that you're really excited about?

Hi, Hillary. Thanks for the question. What I can say is, looking at the data that we get and that I'm sure you all pour over, the overall beverage market in North America is relatively flat while the can grows over the last year, in that 2%-3% range, while other substrates decline similarly, 2%-3%, something like this. Overall, the can just continues to take share in the normal course of business. As far as what we see from the market, our customers, certainly, when it comes to launching new products and categories, more often than not, it is in a can. The great news is when our customers choose the can, they lean into it with the ability to deliver value to consumers through different sizes, different multi-pack capacities. That allows them to meet their customers and their consumers where they are.

That innovation with respect to sizes and pack size configuration really helps the can to win and our customers to win with the can.

Got it. Great. Thank you so much. Just a quick, I guess, a modeling question. I know Millersburg's startup cost is $35 million in 2026. Are you expecting anything in 2027, or we're pretty much done in terms of spending in 2026?

Yeah, this is Dan. I'll take that. Really, the first part of your statement is really what we expect on the startup cost. The $5 million that came in in this quarter, really upwards of $30 million more in the second half of this year. It's very much on plan, and the plan was really for it to be a contributor next year. We're making cans there, and we're well, we're not on a continuous basis, of course, but that's really what the ramp-up's all about, getting it up to speed so it can be productive for next year.

Our next question comes from the line of Mike Rockslin with Truist. Please proceed with your question.

Yeah. Thank you, Ron, Dan, Brandon, for taking my questions, and congrats on all the progress. My first question is just want to get an early read on how volume they're shaping up for 2027, realizing that you're more than 90% sold. Obviously, you opened Millersburg last month, and you expect a full ramp in 2027. When should that occur? Late 2027, mid 2027? A similar question for Benepack. When do you expect to open those assets full next year?

Hi, Mike. Thanks for the question and thanks for the congratulatory comment. Gives me a chance to accept them on behalf of our 16,000 Ball employees who are working very hard to support our customers and deliver really great value for our shareholders and all of their colleagues. On behalf of those 16,000 colleagues of mine, thank you, and I accept your congratulatory comments. As for 2027, we aren't concerning ourselves too much with guidance on 2027 on this call. What I will say, and I reiterate, is we grew 4-plus% in Q2 on the back of 4-plus% growth last year for the full year and 4% in the Q2 last year. This is our sixth consecutive quarter of growth, and that's just a clear evidence and sign that the can is winning and will continue to win on a go-forward basis.

For the long term, we are confident in our 2%-3% volume growth outlook. That's what you should continue to model for us. Quite frankly, this year, we will again probably finish above that, certainly above the 2%-3%, so slightly above that. Next year, we expect to be in that range. As it relates to Millersburg, again, I said we started making commercial cans there last month. We expect to deliver pretty much the full value of that plant, let's say, certainly beginning sometime in the first quarter, I would say. We may not have it ramped completely on January 1, but we should expect to have pretty much the full value of that plant in 2027. As it relates to Benepack, similarly, this year is about integrating those assets.

They should be fully ramped and operational, running as a part of our network, and being accretive just as they normally would do any other plant startup. We got some big opportunities to deliver good value to ourselves and to our customers in 2027 as a result of those investments.

Very clear, Ron. Thank you. There's one quick follow-up on the volumes. Where do volumes stand currently for July thus far by region? Any early read or what do your order books look like for August thus far, realizing it's earlier in the month? Thank you.

Yeah. Thanks, Mike. I would say we're right on track In July results from our quarter and full year. It's still very much summer in the Northern Hemisphere and extremely warm and a lot of activity. Really, we have great confidence in our Q3 plan based on our July and month to date August numbers. Nothing special to call out there other than we're right on our plan.

Our next question comes from the line of Josh Spector with UBS. Please proceed with your question.

Hi, good morning. It's Anojja Shah sitting in for Josh. I know it's a smaller category. I wanted to talk about the other category. It seems like your aerosol business did pretty well in Q2. Can you just talk about what went right? Is this kind of a new run rate for you in aerosols? Separately, one of your aerosol competitors just announced an expansion in Pennsylvania. Can you talk about the competitive environment you're seeing there right now?

Sure. Thanks for the question. We're really pleased to get to talk about our, what we call our personal home care business. I would just say it all consistently. This quarter is no exception, our personal and home care business is accretive to our overall volume growth and our operating earnings growth. While it's relatively small, we really like our PHC business. It gives me the chance to thank all the people, all of my colleagues that work in our personal and home care business. We like it. We like it going forward. We think that investment in this business by us or competitors is good because there's continued demand. Just really positive. We see good outlook for it.

Yes. This is Dan. I would overlay just a couple of things. One is obviously this business at times grows even higher rates than our beverage can business does. This quarter really was no exception to that. High single digits for the quarter. I would say a lot of it has to do with the industry dynamics. For North America, it really consists of two markets. It consists of the U.S. and Mexico. We happen to be located in Mexico. When a competitor really comes up in Pennsylvania or in the U.S., it's almost like it's not necessarily relevant in some regards because our competition really are those who are down in Mexico.

Okay, great. Thank you for that. There was a pretty big change to Section 232 in July that I think includes some incentives for domestic production of aluminum. Do you expect any near to medium term impact? I know you have an immediate pass through on aluminum. Maybe this could mean some relief for end consumers that could have a potentially positive impact on your volumes here in North America. Thanks. I'll turn it over after.

Thanks for that question. The short answer is no, we aren't seeing any impacts. No, we don't foresee any big change relative to tariff and trade policies in the U.S. or globally for that matter. We just can't forecast or predict them. We understand that what was offered, in terms of the Section 232 changes, they're just not material enough to really move the needle. It does give me a chance to say that we and the industry are concerned and keep an eye on aluminum price. Because the cost of aluminum, while it is a pass-through model, does ultimately affect end consumer demand and our customers. The can continues to win and grow even in that elevated cost environment for aluminum. We would very much like to see aluminum prices lower.

I think the investments that are happening in the industry, be it smelting or rolling, we encourage and we're excited about those investments as they come online, be it in the U.S. or anywhere else in the world.

Our next question comes from the line of Matt Roberts with Raymond James. Please proceed with your question.

Good morning. Thank you for the time. Actually really quick, Bandon, just on your volumes, are you saying above 2%-3% or the high end? Just clarification on the comments.

Hi, Matt. I said for this year, the 2%-3%, we should be at or above. It's hard for us to call it, but I would say right now, as we sit at the half year, we're right in the middle of that range. We expect to see some acceleration of volume growth in the back half of this year. We'll be, I would just say call it 3% is probably good enough for right now. That's probably the best I could do in prognosticating how we'll finish the year.

Then really just one other from me. Thinking about incremental capacity in Millersburg in 2027, recognizing certainly network the lead valves, the capacity creates from operational and cost perspective. Is there any change in product mix from that facility? Any difference in standard and specialty shift in 2027, or is Millersburg in line with the system average? Trying to look at the operating leverage impacts. Is it really all from cost or any mix?

Thanks for the question, Matt. Again, we're really happy with our investment in the Pacific Northwest. It's a long way to ship cans there, so we're excited to have the capacity back in that region. We started producing last month. It was an important milestone for us. It's also important to know this is a one-line plant. It will be fully ramped up in 2027, but it is still only a one-line plant, and it's only making standard size cans. You won't see a mix shift impact from that plant. It'll be more or less in line. I will say there is a continued move from standard cans to more what we call sleek cans, et cetera. You will continue to see mix shift, but it won't be as a result of this plant coming online in 2027 at a full ramp up.

Our next question is a follow-up from Gabe Hajdu with Wells Fargo. Please proceed with your question.

Thank you guys for taking the follow-up. Ron, I guess, as you think about North America or NACA being a 1%-3% growing geography for you all, I know you're adding Millersburg, and that's going to give you some relief in the Pacific Northwest, but I think I've heard you say at least three times, things are pretty tight, and it's not optimal for the system, generally speaking. Again, appreciating we know there's seasonality. You guys build inventories in the spring and et cetera. I want to understand, as you look across the system, are there other areas for you to add a little bit of, I'll call it, creep capacity, whether it's decorators on the back end or additional lines or anything that you'd be adding in North America would require new four walls in brick and mortar. Thank you.

Ball (BALL) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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