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what it is
It makes labels, adhesives, tapes, and RFID tags that stick to products and track them through supply chains.
how it gets paid
Last year Avery Dennison made $8.9B in revenue.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 1.1% last year. EDGAR lists $6.6B in revenue and a 28.8% gross margin.
what just happened
Avery Dennison beat by 1.24% on EPS, with $2.45 versus $2.42 expected.
At a glance
A balance sheet — strong enough to weather a downturn
55/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
22.2x trailing p/e — priced about right
2.1% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
14.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 71/100 — average
What they do
It makes labels, adhesives, tapes, and RFID tags that stick to products and track them through supply chains.
Your label has to work on the first try. Leaving is painful when a bad switch can break a packaging line or a retail rollout. Avery Dennison has 35,000 employees and earns a 14.0% return on capital, which means every dollar put in the business throws off 14 cents of operating profit.
How they make money
$8.9B
annual revenue · their business grew +1.1% last year
total revenue
$8.9B
+1.1%
The products that matter
manufactures labels and adhesive materials
Self-Adhesive Materials & Labels
$8.9B revenue base · +4.2% core growth
this is the operating center of gravity on this page. the core labels and materials activity grew 4.2% even while total company revenue rose only 1.1%, which tells you some parts of the business are moving faster than the headline.
core driver
tracks products with RFID tags
RFID Tags
included in the $8.9B business
the page gives no standalone revenue for RFID, so we will not pretend it is larger or smaller than it is. what you can say is simple: this is one of the higher-interest pieces inside an otherwise plain-english labeling company.
less disclosed
Key numbers
$8.9B
annual sales
That is the whole top line. You get scale, but not a fast-growing story.
14.0%
return on capital
For every $1 invested, Avery gets $0.14 back in operating profit.
2.1%
dividend yield
You get $2.10 a year for every $100 you own, before the stock moves.
22.2x
trailing p/e
You are paying $22.20 for each $1 of trailing earnings, so the stock is not cheap.
Financial health
A
strength
- balance sheet grade A — very strong financial position
- risk rank 2 — safer than 80% of stocks
- price stability 90 / 100
- long-term debt $3.2B (18% of capital)
- net profit margin 8.3% — keeps 8 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 22% — $0.22 profit for every $1 investors have put in
A with balance sheet grade and risk rank standing out. your money faces less risk here than at most public companies.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in AVY 3 years ago → it's now worth $11,290.
The index would have given you $14,540.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Avery Dennison beat by 1.24% on EPS, with $2.45 versus $2.42 expected.
EDGAR lists $6.6B in revenue and a 28.8% gross margin. Yahoo shows $2.45 EPS versus $2.42 expected, so the quarter was a small beat either way.
$6.6B
revenue
$2.45
eps
28.8%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The $2.45 EPS print beat the $2.42 estimate by 1.24%, and that kept the quarter from being a miss.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the biggest threat here is cost or compliance pressure hitting a business that only keeps 8.1% of revenue as profit.
med
environmental and product compliance actions
avery dennison works with materials, adhesives, and labeling products across global markets. if compliance costs rise or products need to change, that expense lands on a business with an 8.1% net margin, not a 30% one.
impact: margin pressure matters fast when you only keep 8 cents of every revenue dollar.
med
global supply chain disruption
this is a physical products company with an $8.9B revenue base. if materials, transport, or plant throughput get hit, the disruption runs through the whole income statement.
impact: supply issues do not threaten a side segment here — they touch the full $8.9B business.
med
multiple compression if growth stays slow
the stock trades at 22.2x trailing earnings while revenue grew 1.1% last year. that works as long as investors keep paying for steadiness. if steadiness starts to look like stagnation, the premium shrinks.
impact: the valuation is more exposed to slow growth than the balance sheet is exposed to debt.
put those together and the picture is simple: a stable business with an A balance sheet still needs growth and margin discipline to justify a low-20s earnings multiple.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
consolidated revenue growth above 1.1%
this is the cleanest pressure point on the story. if the top line keeps hovering near 1%, the 22.2x multiple gets harder to defend.
calendar
next earnings report
you want to see whether $2.13 quarterly EPS was a floor, a plateau, or the start of a better run rate.
risk
compliance and materials costs
with only 7.8% quarterly margin and 8.1% net margin, small cost problems do not stay small for long.
trend
core segment growth versus company growth
the core segment grew 4.2% while the whole company grew 1.1%. that gap is the clue. you want to know whether the faster piece starts pulling the headline up.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3. in human-speak, analysts think the stock behaves like the market, not like a breakout story.
risk profile
above average
stability score 2 means safer than roughly 80% of stocks. this is the part of the story working as advertised.
chart momentum
below average
technical score 4 says the tape is less convincing than the balance sheet.
earnings predictability
55 / 100
predictability sits in the middle. you are buying steadiness, but you are not buying perfect visibility.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
311 buyers vs. 249 sellers in 4q2025. total institutional holdings: 75.3M shares.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$167
$272
$195
current price
$220
target midpoint · +13% from current · 3-5yr high: $295 (+50% · 13% ann'l return)
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