Graphic Packaging vs Sonoco
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The short version
- Graphic Packaging is the larger business, with $8.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $7.5B for Sonoco.
- Sonoco grew revenue faster (41.7%, against −2.2%).
- Sonoco kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (13.5% operating margin, against 9.3%).
- Sonoco turned more of its sales into free cash flow (4.6% FCF margin, against −0.9%).
- Sonoco earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (9.4%, against 7.3%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Graphic Packaging’s earnings: a P/E of 13.3x against 4.9x for Sonoco.
| Latest fiscal year | GPK · FY25 | SON · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $2.6B | $5.0B |
| Revenue | $8.6B | $7.5B |
| Free cash flow | −$81.0M | $346M |
| Net income | $444M | $1.0B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −2.2% | 41.7% |
| 5-year growth | 5.6% | 7.1% |
| Share count change | −1.7% | 0.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 18.6% | 20.9% |
| Operating margin | 9.3% | 13.5% |
| Net margin | 5.2% | 13.3% |
| FCF margin | −0.9% | 4.6% |
| Return on capital | 7.3% | 9.4% |
| Return on equity | 14.0% | 34.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $5.3B | $3.9B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 4.0x | 2.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $278M | $219M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 13.3x | 4.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
GPK $4.3B
SON $4.9B
FY17
GPK $4.4B
SON $5.2B
FY18
GPK $6.0B
SON $5.5B
FY19
GPK $6.2B
SON $5.5B
FY20
GPK $6.6B
SON $5.3B
FY21
GPK $7.2B
SON $5.7B
FY22
GPK $9.4B
SON $5.9B
FY23
GPK $9.4B
SON $5.4B
FY24
GPK $8.8B
SON $5.3B
FY25
GPK $8.6B
SON $7.5B
GPK
SON
Operating margin
FY16
GPK 9.5%
SON 10.3%
FY17
GPK 7.4%
SON 8.0%
FY18
GPK 7.6%
SON 7.9%
FY19
GPK 8.7%
SON 8.5%
FY20
GPK 8.0%
SON 6.7%
FY21
GPK 5.7%
SON 8.5%
FY22
GPK 9.6%
SON 9.6%
FY23
GPK 12.5%
SON 10.8%
FY24
GPK 12.7%
SON 6.2%
FY25
GPK 9.3%
SON 13.5%
GPK
SON
Free cash flow
FY16
GPK −$205M
SON $212M
FY17
GPK −$433M
SON $159M
FY18
GPK −$753M
SON $397M
FY19
GPK $335M
SON $230M
FY20
GPK $209M
SON $511M
FY21
GPK −$166M
SON $42.7M
FY22
GPK $568M
SON $180M
FY23
GPK $340M
SON $520M
FY24
GPK −$363M
SON $441M
FY25
GPK −$81.0M
SON $346M
GPK
SON
Return on capital
FY16
GPK 9.5%
SON 13.1%
FY17
GPK 9.9%
SON 8.4%
FY18
GPK 9.3%
SON 11.8%
FY19
GPK 8.8%
SON 11.0%
FY20
GPK 8.6%
SON 8.9%
FY21
GPK 4.7%
SON 12.1%
FY22
GPK 8.9%
SON 10.7%
FY23
GPK 11.9%
SON 8.6%
FY24
GPK 10.3%
SON 4.2%
FY25
GPK 7.3%
SON 9.4%
GPK
SON
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.