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what it is
Acco sells the stuff around your desk and classroom, from Swingline staplers to Kensington keyboards, in about 100 countries.
how it gets paid
FY2025 net sales were $1.525B (GAAP), down 8.5% from $1.666B in FY2024. The company reports two segments: Americas (~59% of FY2025 sales) and International (~41%).
why growth slowed
Management cites softer global demand and tariff-related disruptions. Q4 comparable sales were down 7.8% despite some FX tailwind — the full-year trend still matters more than one quarter.
what just happened
Q4 2025: net sales $428.8M (−4.3% vs. prior year); GAAP EPS $0.23 vs. $0.21 prior-year quarter. FY2025: GAAP EPS $0.44; adjusted diluted EPS $0.84. Closed EPOS acquisition (Jan 30, 2026) for tech peripherals pivot.
At a glance
C+ balance sheet — struggling to keep the lights on
15/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
~9× GAAP / ~5× adjusted trailing EPS — cheap on adjusted, noisy on GAAP
~7.4% dividend yield — $0.075/qtr ($0.30 run-rate) at $4.06
4.1× consolidated leverage (Dec 2025, company metric)
xvary composite: 30/100 — weak
What they do
Acco sells the stuff around your desk and classroom, from Swingline staplers to Kensington keyboards, in about 100 countries.
Acco wins with boring brands you already know, and that matters because buyers still reorder familiar names across about 100 countries. Brand moat (habit-driven repeat buying) → customers grab Swingline, Kensington, Mead, or Five Star without rethinking the aisle → so what: shelf space stays sticky even when demand is weak. The quiet part is that this is a scale business, and scale still helps when you have 5,000 employees pushing product through global retail and office channels.
How they make money
$1.525B
FY2025 net sales · −8.5% vs. FY2024
ACCO Brands Americas
~$894M
FY2025
ACCO Brands International
~$630M
FY2025
Segment totals sum to consolidated net sales (~$1.525B) — Q1–Q4 2025 segment tables in ACCO Q4/FY2025 materials (Mar 9, 2026).
The products that matter
paper planning and organization
AT-A-GLANCE
inside ~$1.53B FY2025 sales
Brand-level revenue is not split in the earnings summary — read by segment (Americas vs. International) and category commentary (e.g. gaming / tech accessories growth offsets in the Americas).
legacy demand
school and note-taking products
Five Star
consumer brand, no segment split
You know the brand; you still underwrite consolidated cash and leverage. FY2025 GAAP net income was $41.3M after a prior-year impairment-charged loss.
brand recognition
workspace and device accessories
Kensington
brand exposure, thin disclosure
Kensington and gaming-related accessories show up in management’s “technology peripherals” narrative; EPOS (closed Jan 2026) is the latest bolt-on in that direction.
adjacent category
Key numbers
~$837M
term debt (GAAP)
Dec 31, 2025: $806M long-term debt, net + ~$31M current portion (balance sheet in release).
~7.4%
dividend yield
$0.075/quarter declared Feb 27, 2026 → $0.30/year ÷ $4.06. High yield still flags payout risk with leverage.
8.5%
revenue decline
Sales are moving the wrong way, which matters more when your categories already look mature.
~32.8%
FY2025 gross margin
~$500M gross profit on ~$1,525M net sales per consolidated statements in the release.
Financial health
C+
strength
- balance sheet grade C+ — weak — may struggle to fund operations
- risk rank 4 — safer than 20% of stocks
- price stability 45 / 100
- long-term debt ~$837M term debt · 4.1× leverage
C+ — balance sheet grade and long-term debt are flagged. this stock carries more risk than average.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for ACCO right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
Q4 & FY 2025
Q4 sales $428.8M · FY net sales $1.525B (−8.5%)
Mar 9, 2026 release: Q4 GAAP net income $21.3M ($0.23/share) vs. $20.6M ($0.21) prior-year quarter. FY2025 net income $41.3M ($0.44 diluted) vs. $(101.6)M ($(1.06)) in FY2024 (prior year hit by $165.2M non-cash impairment). Adjusted diluted EPS $0.84 FY2025 vs. $1.02 FY2024. Operating cash flow $68.7M; adjusted free cash flow $69.5M. Cost program: ~$60M cumulative savings, targeting $100M by end of 2026. 2026 outlook: sales flat to +3%; adjusted EPS $0.84–$0.89; FCF $75–$85M; leverage 3.7×–3.9×.
$428.8M
Q4 2025 sales
$0.44
FY2025 GAAP EPS
$0.84
FY2025 adj. EPS
the number that mattered
The 8.5% full-year sales decline is the through-line — Q4 was not a “$1.1B spike”; it was $429M still down vs. prior year on a reported basis.
source: ACCO Brands Corporation, “Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results and Provides Outlook for 2026,” Business Wire, Mar 9, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is continued office-products decline against a levered balance sheet.
med
digital work keeps shrinking the core category
ACCO sells physical organization and branded productivity products into categories under long-term pressure. FY2025 net sales were $1.525B, down 8.5% vs. prior year.
If the decline persists, pressure hits essentially the whole consolidated top line — only partial offsets (e.g. gaming / tech accessories) show up inside segment commentary.
med
~$837M of term debt and 4.1× leverage limit your margin for error
Balance sheet term debt (~$806M long-term + ~$31M current) dwarfs the ~$305M equity market cap. Consolidated leverage was 4.1× at year-end 2025 per the company.
A weaker revenue year would not just trim earnings. It would reduce room to refinance, defend the dividend, or spend on brand support.
med
a ~7% dividend yield can flip from attraction to warning
High yields look generous until cash demands stack up. Here, the payout sits beside heavy term debt and a business that just printed an 8.5% full-year sales decline.
If the dividend gets cut, one of the few visible reasons income investors stay disappears with it.
med
the low multiple can stay low for a long time
~5× trailing on adjusted EPS looks cheap; ~9× on GAAP is less dramatic. Weak top-line trends and leverage explain why rerating is not automatic.
If sales and FCF do not inflect toward the 2026 outlook, “cheap” can stay cheap.
These risks touch essentially all ~$1.53B of FY2025 net sales while sitting on ~$837M term debt and 4.1× leverage. If sales keep shrinking, the dividend and the multiple stop being the story — deleveraging and covenants become the story.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings
whether net sales stabilize from the ~$1.53B FY2025 base
Management guides 2026 reported sales flat to +3% — that is the first domino to test against actual quarters.
metric
adjusted FCF vs. $75–$85M 2026 outlook
FY2025 adjusted free cash flow was $69.5M. The company is pointing to higher FCF in 2026 — track delivery, not just the headline yield.
risk
dividend support versus ~$837M term debt
A ~7.4% yield at $4.06 is friendly until cash has other plans. Watch operating cash flow, working capital, and the path to 3.7×–3.9× leverage in 2026 guidance.
trend
whether brands offset category fatigue
AT-A-GLANCE, Five Star, and Kensington help shelf presence. They do not automatically reverse a mature category in decline.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
15 / 100
Only 15 out of 100. In human-speak, analysts do not trust the next few quarters to arrive smoothly.
risk rank
4
A 4 means safer than only 20% of stocks in this framework. This is not a bunker stock.
price stability
45 / 100
Below-average stability. You are not getting growth upside, and you are not getting blue-chip calm either.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for ACCO is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$4.06
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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