Packaging Corporation of America
PKG · Paper & Plastic Packaging Products & Materials
$247.29
0.7%Smurfit Westrock
SW · Paper & Plastic Packaging Products & Materials
$41.85
1.4%The short version
- Smurfit Westrock is the larger business, with $31.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $9.0B for Packaging Corporation of America, about 3.5 times as much.
- Smurfit Westrock grew revenue faster (47.7%, against 7.2%).
- Packaging Corporation of America kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (12.3% operating margin, against 5.5% operating margin).
- Packaging Corporation of America turned more of its sales into free cash flow (8.1% FCF margin, against 3.9% FCF margin).
- Packaging Corporation of America earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (11.8%, against 4.1%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Smurfit Westrock’s earnings: a P/E of 44.1x against 32.1x for Packaging Corporation of America.
| Latest fiscal year | PKG · FY25 | SW · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $22.0B | $22.0B |
| Revenue | $9.0B | $31.2B |
| Free cash flow | $729M | $1.2B |
| Net income | $774M | $699M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 7.2% | 47.7% |
| 5-year growth | 6.2% | — |
| Share count change | 0.1% | 35.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 21.0% | 19.4% |
| Operating margin | 12.3% | 5.5% |
| Net margin | 8.6% | 2.2% |
| FCF margin | 8.1% | 3.9% |
| Return on capital | 11.8% | 4.1% |
| Return on equity | 17.2% | 3.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $3.4B | $12.9B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.9x | 3.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $603M | $900M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 32.1x | 44.1x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 5 |
FY16
PKG $5.8B
SW —
FY17
PKG $6.4B
SW —
FY18
PKG $7.0B
SW —
FY19
PKG $7.0B
SW —
FY20
PKG $6.7B
SW —
FY21
PKG $7.7B
SW —
FY22
PKG $8.5B
SW $13.5B
FY23
PKG $7.8B
SW $12.1B
FY24
PKG $8.4B
SW $21.1B
FY25
PKG $9.0B
SW $31.2B
PKG
SW
FY16
PKG 13.6%
SW —
FY17
PKG 14.5%
SW —
FY18
PKG 15.2%
SW —
FY19
PKG 15.1%
SW —
FY20
PKG 10.9%
SW —
FY21
PKG 16.1%
SW —
FY22
PKG 16.8%
SW 11.5%
FY23
PKG 13.8%
SW 11.4%
FY24
PKG 13.1%
SW 4.8%
FY25
PKG 12.3%
SW 5.5%
PKG
SW
FY16
PKG $533M
SW —
FY17
PKG $513M
SW —
FY18
PKG $629M
SW —
FY19
PKG $808M
SW —
FY20
PKG $612M
SW —
FY21
PKG $489M
SW —
FY22
PKG $671M
SW $503M
FY23
PKG $845M
SW $630M
FY24
PKG $522M
SW $17.0M
FY25
PKG $729M
SW $1.2B
PKG
SW
FY16
PKG 12.9%
SW —
FY17
PKG 17.1%
SW —
FY18
PKG 17.2%
SW —
FY19
PKG 16.6%
SW —
FY20
PKG 11.1%
SW —
FY21
PKG 18.7%
SW —
FY22
PKG 19.2%
SW —
FY23
PKG 14.1%
SW —
FY24
PKG 14.0%
SW 2.9%
FY25
PKG 11.8%
SW 4.1%
PKG
SW
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Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.