Sonoco Books $732 Million Quarterly Loss On $829 Million Goodwill Charge, Revises 2026 Outlook
Adjusted earnings per share fell to $1.67 from $1.92 as drought and rising costs hit both segments, the company said.
Sonoco reported a third-quarter net loss of $732 million, or $7.36 per diluted share, after an $829 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge, according to an 8-K filed Wednesday. The packaging maker also revised its full-year 2026 guidance.
What the results show
The impairment, a non-cash write-down of the value of past acquisitions, covers the Consumer Packaging segment's EMEA/APAC businesses ($802 million) and the Industrial Paper Packaging segment's APAC business ($27 million), according to the earnings release. A year earlier Sonoco earned $123 million, or $1.23 per diluted share, on the same standard accounting basis.
On an adjusted basis, which strips out items such as the impairment, net income was $167 million, or $1.67 per share, versus $191 million, or $1.92, in the third quarter of 2025.
Net sales were $2.0 billion, down 4.2%, driven mainly by the November 3, 2025 sale of ThermoSafe. Excluding divestitures, sales were essentially flat, as higher prices offset lower volume and mix.
Consumer sales fell 2.9% to $1,396 million, with adverse weather hurting vegetable harvests in EMEA and the Americas and cutting metal can volume. Industrial sales rose 5.2% to $646 million on pricing, though segment operating profit fell to $88 million from $94 million.
Drought, costs and the new forecast
CEO Howard Coker said drought in parts of Europe and the U.S. cut crop yields and pressured food can demand, while inflation in raw materials, freight and energy ran above expectations. Consumer results, he said, "fell short of expectations."
In Industrial, North America URB trade ton sales rose 10% year over year and mill utilization held at 94%.
Revised 2026 guidance calls for:
- Net sales of $7.20 billion to $7.40 billion.
- Adjusted EPS of $5.30 to $5.50.
- Adjusted EBITDA of $1.20 billion to $1.25 billion.
- Operating cash flow of $600 million to $650 million, including prior-year divestiture taxes and restructuring costs.
Third-quarter operating cash flow was $285 million. For the first nine months it was $218 million versus $277 million a year earlier, net of about $103 million in one-time taxes on the 2025 sales of TFP and ThermoSafe.
Balance sheet and what to watch
Total debt was $4.3 billion and net debt $4.1 billion at quarter end. Liquidity was $1.3 billion. On September 25, Sonoco added $800 million in term loan facilities, drew $500 million to refinance a loan due in 2028, and kept $300 million in delayed-draw capacity.
Sonoco closed at $50.96 on Wednesday, up about 0.3%, before the results came out after the session.
Management hosts a call Thursday at 8:00 a.m. ET to discuss results and its Profitability Performance Plan, which Coker said targets further cost cuts.
Finance chief Paul Joachimczyk said recovering raw material, freight and energy costs "remains a key priority" heading into 2027.
Sources
- 8-K Filing — SONOCO PRODUCTS CO (SON) — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit ex99q32026earningsrelease.htm — SONOCO PRODUCTS CO 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
- Sonoco Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results | Financial Post — financialpost.com
