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Leading aluminum packaging supplier Ball Corp posted one of its strongest qtrs in yrs with high rev growth and solid volume growth vs yr ago across all regions in Q2 2025. Global net revs jumped nearly 13% to $3.3 bil for the qtr off of 4.1% volume increase in aluminum packaging shipments, benefitting from a sizable price increase. North & Central America region revs rose 9.5% to $1.61 bil in Q2 and volume up "mid-single digit percent" vs yr ago. Tho oper margin in the region slipped 140 bps as oper profit dipped to $208 mil vs $210 mil yr ago, "primarily" due to price/mix and higher costs. Rev growth even stronger in Europe, Middle East and Africa (+19%) and South America (+13%). For the half, global revs up 10% to $6.435 bil including North & Central America unit up 7% to $3.07 bil. Yet beer is "softer than we anticipated" in North & Central America, ceo Dan Fisher acknowledged on co's earnings call. After being "much heavier in beer" over the years, Ball Corp made conscious efforts to reposition its portfolio more toward other growing bev categories like energy and CSD "that have a little bit more tailwind for the future" (ouch!). Co's "starting to see the benefits of that," said Dan."Less beer, more non-alc is lower margin for us," he pointed out, reflected in Q2 oper margin/profit in North & Central America. Still, moving from ~40% of volume mix in alcohol to ~30% in alcohol "would be optimal over time," he added when one analyst threw out those numbers as potential target. "Beer is not doing well, and we have a higher customer concentration in CSD and energy, and those have really outperformed and kept us probably in line or a little ahead of the market." Energy bevs in particular had "more aggressive" start to the year in North & Central America region, including "one of our large strategic partners" growing "nearly twenty percent," Dan shared (likely referring to Red Bull). "That was unanticipated," he acknowledged.In beer, "some of our customers" and brands "are doing a little better than the aggregate. So I think some of our mix has certainly benefitted there," he pointed out. "North America's beer is not as good as we anticipated" but "there are pockets" in "American beer" that are "doing okay," he cited. "One of our customers, in particular, is struggling just because of the tariffs," Dan added. Yet "unless that relieves itself&hellip;we're not anticipating greater performance than the 3% top end" of Ball's volume growth outlook for the year in North & Central America.Editor's note: in US beer scans, premium, subpremium and superpremium segments collectively declined 3.3% by $$ and 4.6% by volume YTD thru Jul 13, per Circana MULC data, shedding slight $$ share and holding flattish volume share of total beer. Sales continued to decline at similar rates for latest 12 wks, but as rest of industry softened, those segments collectively snagged 0.2 share of $$ and 0.4 share of volume for period, driven almost entirely by Mich Ultra and Busch Light/extensions."All in all, it's better, net better," from Ball Corp's seat. "And I think cans are winning," said Dan. Against the backdrop of "a recessionary window, which the can has a better playbook for sustained performance in that," Ball Corp is "more bullish probably in the second half of the year than the balance of most packaging companies," he figures.

Ball Corp Q2 Its Strongest Growth in Yrs Amid Conscious Shift Toward Energy/CSD Bevs; "Beer Softer than We Anticipated"

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