Crown Holdings Inc. (CCK)

Crown Holdings reported third-quarter 2026 net sales of $3,711 million on 19 October, against $3,202 million a year earlier 2. Most of the rise came from passing $405 million of higher metal costs on to customers, together with higher global beverage can shipments 2. Net income attributable to Crown was $225 million, up from $214 million 2.

Global beverage can shipments rose by more than 6 percent, with double-digit gains in Asia, 6 percent in North America and 4 percent in Europe 2. Chief Executive Timothy Donahue described a global growth spurt across beverage cans on the earnings call, Packaging Dive reported on 21 October 6.

Donahue said Crown recovers other rising costs from customers on a delay, with a fairly large repricing around 1 April 2027 6. For the full year the company expects adjusted earnings per share of $8.35 to $8.45, meaning profit with one-off items set aside 2.

On 21 October the board added Wayne Smith, a former head of BASF Corporation, as a director and audit committee member 3. On 19 October Silgan, a rival, announced a partnership to buy rival Trivium Packaging 7.

Crown dates itself to 1892, when inventor William Painter patented the crown cork, a bottle seal, and started the Crown Cork & Seal Company of Baltimore 5. By 1906 its manufacturing base had spread to Europe, South America and Asia Pacific 5. In 1936 it bought the Acme Can Company of Philadelphia to enter the tin can business, and in 1937 launched the Crowntainer, a two-piece steel can sealed with a crown 5.

Prohibition pushed it from beer toward soft drinks in 1919, and in 1969 it launched a two-piece steel beverage can that became a rapid hit 5. Net sales reached $1 billion in 1977, when it had 60 plants worldwide 5.

In 1990 Crown bought major parts of Continental Can Company, becoming the North American packaging leader, and in 1992 it bought CONSTAR International, adding PET plastic containers 5. In 1996 it bought CarnaudMetalbox, Europe's leading maker of metal and plastic packaging, and called itself the world's packaging leader 5.

Crown sold 89.5 percent of CONSTAR in a 2002 public offering, and in 2003 completed a $3.2 billion refinancing and formed Crown Holdings, Inc. as a new public holding company 5. In 2005 and 2006 it sold its global plastic closures and cosmetics packaging businesses 5.

Crown bought Mivisa Envases of Spain, a food can maker, in 2014, and in 2015 bought EMPAQUE, a Mexican maker of aluminum cans and ends, from Heineken 5. In 2018 it bought Signode Industrial Group, now its Transit Packaging division, and in 2021 it sold its European Tinplate business to KPS Capital Partners to fund beverage can projects 5.

Since 2019 Crown has put at least $2,000 million into new plants and lines, the annual report says 1. It announced closing its Sihanoukville, Cambodia plant in 2024 1.

Its Yangon, Myanmar plant, idled in 2022, ran at limited capacity from 2023 because currency limits blocked buying U.S. dollar raw materials 1. It took a $30 million impairment charge in 2025 and sold the Myanmar plant in February 2026 1.

Net sales rose to $12,365 million in 2025 from $11,801 million, mainly because $507 million of higher metal costs were passed to customers, with higher volumes in Europe 1.

What Crown makes

Crown makes aluminum and steel cans and ends for drinks, food and aerosols, plus transit packaging, the straps, films, protective products and machines that secure goods in shipping 1. At the end of 2025 it ran 179 plants in 39 countries with about 23,000 employees 1. Of 2025 net sales of $12.4 billion, 61 percent came from outside the U.S. 1.

Beverage cans

About 73 percent of 2025 sales came from beverage cans 1. Americas Beverage had 2025 net sales of $5.6 billion and segment income, the company's main profit measure, of $1,030 million 1. European Beverage had $2.3 billion and $334 million 1.

In the third quarter Americas Beverage sold $1,700 million and European Beverage $772 million, and Asia Pacific, which also makes food cans, sold $321 million 2. Its largest can customers include Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Heineken and Molson Coors, and the top ten customers were about 48 percent of 2025 sales 1.

Transit Packaging

Transit Packaging had 2025 net sales of $2.0 billion and segment income of $258 million 1. In the third quarter its sales were $520 million and segment income $60 million, against $70 million a year earlier, and Donahue said the business disappointed 26.

Food, aerosol and other cans

The Other group holds the North American food can, aerosol can and closure businesses and beverage tooling and equipment 1. Packaging Dive reported high-single-digit food can volume gains in North America, with softer aerosol can sales 6.

Plants and people

Americas, Transit Packaging and corporate headquarters are in Tampa, Florida, the European headquarters in Baar, Switzerland and the Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore 1. Timothy Donahue is chairman, president and chief executive, and Kevin Clothier is finance chief 2.

John Rost became chief operating officer for Asia Pacific and Transit Packaging on 1 April 2026, and Michael Doss, chief executive of Graphic Packaging, joined the board on 3 March 2026 1214. General counsel Adam Dickstein told the company on 3 September he will retire effective 31 December 2026 11.

Rivals and problems

The annual report names Ardagh Metal Packaging, Ball Corporation, Baosteel Packaging, Can-Pack, Metal Container Corporation, Silgan, Sonoco and Trivium Packaging among its competitors 1. Silgan's planned combined metal container business with Trivium would have more than 100 plants and an estimated $7.3 billion in annual net sales 7.

Crown Cork, a subsidiary, is a defendant in asbestos injury lawsuits tied to a U.S. company's insulation operations, whose stock it bought in 1963 1. It held an accrual of $177 million for such claims at the end of 2025 1. In the second quarter, volumes in Brazil were 14 percent lower 4.

The umbrella, in words

Exhibit 21 lists Crown's subsidiaries by name and place of incorporation, from Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc. and CROWN Americas LLC in the U.S. to can plants in Brazil, Cambodia and China 9. Signode companies in the list come from the 2018 purchase 95.

The annual report lists principal plants by segment, and Crown leased 54 of its manufacturing facilities at the end of 2025 1. The March 2026 credit agreement names Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc. and Crown International Holdings, LLC as parent guarantors 13.

No holder is shown controlling Crown here: a BlackRock business unit reported 4.6 percent in a Schedule 13G amendment filed in October, which says no one person's interest is more than five percent 10. On 26 February 2026 there were 3,132 registered shareholders 1.

For the full year the company expects adjusted earnings per share of $8.35 to $8.45 and adjusted free cash flow of at least $950 million after capital spending of about $550 million 2. Finance chief Kevin Clothier expects fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.63 to $1.73 2.

The company says it is building capacity: a new Brazilian line at Ponta Grossa is expected in late 2026, Korinthos, Greece in the second half of 2026 and Agoncillo, Spain in early 2027 4.

Groundbreaking began in September on a beverage can plant in Uttar Pradesh, India, with commercial start-up expected in the first quarter of 2028 2. The April announcement had given the second half of 2027 8.

Crown has a repurchase authorization of $2,000 million through the end of 2027, with about $1,300 million left at the end of 2025 1. The new credit facilities mature on 17 March 2031 13.

Donahue said no large acquisitions are expected in cans or outside them, though a plant here or there could come up 6.