Start here if you're new
what it is
Silgan makes the cans, caps, pumps, and plastic containers that consumer brands need to get products onto shelves.
how it gets paid
Last year Silgan made $6.5B in revenue. metal food containers was the main engine at $2.3B, or 35% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 10.7% last year. Quarterly revenue was about $1.47B, up 4.1% vs. prior year, but management is still dealing with weak consumer spending and retailer destocking.
what just happened
Silgan's latest quarter looked fine on revenue, but EPS came in at $0.67 versus the $0.84 expectation.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
80/100 earnings predictability — you can trust these numbers
13.0x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
1.8% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
10.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 66/100 — average
What they do
Silgan makes the cans, caps, pumps, and plastic containers that consumer brands need to get products onto shelves.
Your soup can, pet food lid, and soap pump all have to arrive on time or the brand misses a sale. Silgan runs 123 manufacturing facilities and employs about 17,200 people, which makes packaging a scale business, not a glamour business. That scale helped it hold a 16.0% operating margin on $6.5B of revenue.
How they make money
$6.5B
annual revenue · their business grew +10.7% last year
metal food containers
$2.3B
+4.1%
dispensing closures
$1.9B
+10.7%
vacuum closures
$1.2B
0.0%
plastic containers
$0.8B
+3.0%
tubes and specialty closures
$0.3B
2.0%
The products that matter
manufactures and sells packaging
Metal & Plastic Containers
$6.5B revenue
it's the whole business in this snapshot: $6.5B in revenue, up 10.7% from last year, with a 6.0% net margin. big volume. little room for waste.
6.0% margin
Key numbers
13.0x
earnings multiple
P/E → stock price divided by annual profit per share → so what: you are paying 13 times current earnings for a business with 6.0% projected sales growth.
$3.7B
long-term debt
That is 42% of capital, which means slow volume growth matters more because debt does not take a quarter off.
16.0%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit after running the business, before interest and taxes → so what: Silgan still converts a boring product into real profit.
1.8%
dividend yield
Dividend yield → annual cash payout divided by stock price → so what: you get paid a little while waiting, but this is not an income story.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 85 / 100
- long-term debt $3.7B (42% of capital)
- net profit margin 7.3% — keeps 7 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 14% — $0.14 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B+ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in SLGN 3 years ago → it's now worth $9,420.
The index would have given you $14,540.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
Silgan's latest quarter looked fine on revenue, but EPS came in at $0.67 versus the $0.84 expectation.
Quarterly revenue was about $1.47B, up 4.1% vs. prior year, but management is still dealing with weak consumer spending and retailer destocking. The soft spot remains dispensing, where perfume exposure hurts.
$1.47B
revenue
$0.67
eps
17.9%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The key number was the 20.24% EPS miss, because it tells you soft demand is still showing up in actual profits.
-
silgan holdings continues to navigate a difficult consumer spending environment.
-
consumers remain challenged by inflation with less disposable income.
-
this has hurt the dispensing segment, which has a large contribution from the perfume sector.
-
retailers have been destocking inventories in some product lines.
-
in addition, one large customer has had a major retrenchment.in the separate metal containers business, which is more of consumer staples, management has been pruning low profitability products. even though many materials costs can be passed-through to customers, higher raw materials costs in the unit has weighed on margins.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is european cartel litigation tied to metal packaging.
med
the european legal issue is still alive
Silgan settled a European Commission antitrust investigation in 2022 and is still fighting related cartel cases. For most companies, a 2022 issue would be old news by now. Here, it still belongs in the thesis.
The current snapshot maps the exposed revenue at $975M–$1.6B. Even if the final hit lands below that range, this is not background noise.
med
thin margins leave little room for error
A 6.0% net margin means Silgan keeps 6 cents of every revenue dollar. The latest quarter came in at 4.4%. When margins are this thin, raw materials, freight, or plant inefficiency do not need to move much to matter.
If quarterly profitability stays near 4.4% instead of climbing back toward the 6.0% full-year level, the earnings power behind the cheap multiple gets weaker fast.
med
$3.7B in debt cuts into flexibility
Long-term debt equals 42% of capital. That is manageable in a stable business, but it also means Silgan does not get to pretend setbacks are free.
Debt looks fine until legal costs, cost inflation, or a demand wobble show up together. Then a B+ balance sheet stops feeling roomy.
$3.7B in long-term debt plus a 6.0% net margin leaves little space for $975M–$1.6B of litigation exposure or fresh cost inflation to show up at the same time.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
risk
european case milestones
watch for rulings, settlements, or reserve updates tied to the cartel cases. This is the non-operating issue most likely to reprice the stock.
metric
margin back toward 6.0%
quarterly revenue matters, but margin matters more. You want to see the latest 4.4% print climb back toward the 6.0% full-year level.
trend
institutional selling streak
103 buyers versus 153 sellers in 4q2025 is not a vote of confidence. You want to see that imbalance stop getting worse.
calendar
next earnings report
the next print needs to show whether 2025's sales growth can keep flowing through to profit instead of stalling at the margin line.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
top 20%
momentum score 2 — analysts expect above-average price performance in the year ahead. in human-speak: they think the setup is better than the stock's reputation.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — this sits in the middle. Safer than a fragile cyclical, less forgiving than a true staple franchise.
chart momentum
below average
technical score 4 — the tape is not doing management any favors right now.
earnings predictability
80 / 100
the numbers are dependable more often than not. In plain English: you rarely wake up to a total surprise here.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net selling for 2 consecutive quarters — 103 buyers vs. 153 sellers in 4q2025. total institutional holdings: 93.8M shares. net selling for 2 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$40
$81
$49
current price
$61
target midpoint · +26% from current · 3-5yr high: $115 (+135% · 25% ann'l return)
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