SONSONOCO PRODUCTS CO

Paperboard Containers & Boxes

Revenue: $7.5B; 42% YoY
Operating margin: 13.5%; 120% YoY
EBITDA: $1.5B; 119% YoY
Market cap: $4.9B
Employees: 6,500; $1M revenue each
Net debt / EBITDA: 2.3×; $3.6B net debt
AI in 10-K: 1.6; mentions per 10K words

Takeover score 2 of 13

Fixable underperformance 1 of 7

TSR below peersNo
—
3+ of last 5 years
High CEO pay despite TSRNo
—
Median CEO pay ≥ $15M while TSR trails
Earnings not backed by cashYes
69% of net income
Cash flow under 80% of net income
Dilutive SBCNo
0% of revenue
Over 10% of revenue
Payouts exceed cash flowNo
32% of cash flow
Buybacks + dividends over cash flow
Goodwill-heavyNo
16% of assets
Over 40% of assets
Shareholder dissentNo
95% lowest support
Any vote under 80% support

Buyer economics 1 of 4

Low revenue per employeeNo
$1M · 100th pct
Bottom quartile of its SIC industry
Quiet on AINo
1.6 per 10K words · 48th pct
Bottom quartile of AI mentions in 10-Ks
Net cashNo
2.3× EBITDA net debt
More cash than debt, positive EBITDA
Buyout-sizedYes
$4.9B market cap
Market cap $500M–$5B

Catalysts 0 of 2

Active 13DNo
0 filings
Active-intent 13D in 18 months
Net insider sellingNo
$884K net
Net sales over $10M in 12 months

Financials

Metric	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	YoY	Trend
Revenue	$5.6B	$5.4B	$5.4B	$5.3B	$7.5B	42%
Operating income	$487M	$563M	$589M	$327M	$1.0B	212%
Net income	−$85M	$466M	$475M	$164M	$1.0B	512%
Operating cash flow	$299M	$509M	$883M	$834M	$690M	17%
Capex	$256M	$329M	$363M	$393M	$344M	13%
Stock-based comp	$23M	$31M	$28M	$30M	$18M	39%
Buybacks	$218M	$5M	$11M	$9M	$11M	18%
Dividends	$179M	$187M	$197M	$203M	$208M	2.3%

Deal filings

None.

13D filers

None on file.

Insider trading

Open-market buys, 12 mo: $990K · 3
Open-market sells, 12 mo: $106K · 3
Net: $884K

Pay vs performance

No pay-versus-performance disclosure yet.