Ball Corp (BALL) stock analysis
Ball Corp (BALL) clears 5 of this site's 8 mechanical value filters, 5 of 8 Buffett-style checks and 2 of 5 Lynch-style checks. At $65.81 it trades 42.5% below this site's neutral DCF value (a margin of safety of +42.5%). Its earnings quality rates Mixed and it returns +8.7% to shareholders net of dilution. Figures are as of October 23, 2026, from SEC filings and market data refreshed weekly; this is educational analysis, not investment advice.
Data as of October 23, 2026. Refreshed weekly from SEC filings and market data.
What does Ball do?
Ball Corporation makes aluminum beverage cans for drink companies around the world.
What stands out about Ball?
- The share price implies shrinking cash flow. At $65.81, BALL's free cash flow of $6.70 per share would have to shrink 5.5% a year at first, then recover to 2.5% growth by year 10, for this site's DCF (10% discount rate) to match the price. This site's baseline starts at 8% growth, so the price asks for less growth than the baseline. Change the assumptions.
- Misses 1 of the 8 value filters. It fails Market Cap > $25B ($17.3B); the other 5 pass and 2 were not evaluated. See every filter.
- Close to its 52-week high. At $65.81, BALL is within 2.9% of its high of $67.76, 41.8% above its low of $46.41. See the range.
- Weakest against peers: dividend yield. At 1.24% (peer median 3.16%) it ranks 6th of 6 among packaging stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Earnings quality: Mixed · 1 flag. Beneish M-score −2.42 · accruals −1.9% of assets · 57% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 0.2% of revenue · share count −6.7% a year. From the latest 10-K (year to Dec 2025). See the Earnings Quality Screener.
How has Ball's share price moved?
The interactive price chart needs JavaScript.
Is Ball undervalued? The value diligence check
Every value-investing signal this site computes for this stock, gathered in one place: the same real numbers from the tools below, not a new score.
- Margin of safety (DCF) +42.5%
- P/E vs. its own history 18.3x · the middle Real range: 4.2x–36.4x over 5 years (net income per diluted share from each fiscal year's 10-K, paired with the real closing price at that fiscal year-end).
- Wall St. analyst rating Buy · 4.09/5 22 analysts this month: 6 strong buy, 12 buy, 4 hold, 0 sell, 0 strong sell (Finnhub). Up from 4.05 last month.
- Earnings quality (is the profit real?) Mixed · 1 flag Beneish M-score −2.42 · accruals −1.9% of assets · 57% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 0.2% of revenue · share count −6.7% a year. From the latest 10-K (year to Dec 2025) - see the Earnings Quality Screener for how each check is scored.
- Shareholder yield (cash back to owners) +8.7% net Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 1.3% + buybacks 7.6% − stock comp 0.2%, as a share of today's market cap. Over 14 years its split-adjusted share count fell 18%. See Shareholder Yield Leaders.
- Capital needed to grow (See's test) None needed · capital fell while profit grew · but only 10% return on capital Operating profit $733M → $1.2B, capital needed $11B → $11B, 2016–2025 (3-year averages); return on capital now 10% before tax. Buffett's See's Candies needed $0.42 per $1 of new profit, FlightSafety $3.20, a typical grower about $5. See Capital-Light Compounders.
- PEG (growth at a reasonable price) 1.32 · Above fair P/E 18.3× ÷ 13.9% a year of growth behind it. 137th lowest of 447 stocks with a usable PEG. Lynch's fair value is a PEG of 1; a very high PEG usually means almost no growth, a very low one a profit spike. See PEG Ratio Ranking.
- Compounder lenses (4) 2 of 4 · misses capital-light, real profit Capital-light growth: not cleared (profit grew 1.6×, under 2×); Profit is real: not cleared (1 earnings-quality flag); Cash to owners: cleared; Fair price (PEG): cleared. See Compounders at a Fair Price, which also lets you move the PEG bar.
- Value trap check Clear
- Munger's Inversion Check 0 flags
- Standing vs. sector peers 5 of 7 measures above the median Compared with the 5 other packaging stocks this site tracks: 4 in the top third, 2 in the bottom third.
- Dividend payout sustainability 0/6 · clean
How does Ball compare with its peers?
5 of 7 measures sit above the median of the 5 other packaging stocks tracked here, 4 in the top third and 2 in the bottom third.
- P/E ratiolower is cheaper · peer median 19.3× 18.3× ✓1st of 5
- Free-cash-flow yieldhigher is cheaper · peer median 7.0% 10.2% ✓1st of 6
- Return on equityhigher is better · peer median 12% 17% ✓2nd of 6
- Net marginhigher is better · peer median 5.7% 6.6% –3rd of 6
- Revenue growthhigher is better, year on year · peer median 8.1% 15.6% ✓2nd of 6
- Debt / equitylower is safer · peer median 1.02 1.26 ✕5th of 6
- Dividend yieldamong dividend payers · peer median 3.16% 1.24% ✕6th of 6
Peers are the stocks this site tracks in the same sector group, not every listed competitor. The bar runs from the weakest peer (left) to the strongest (right); the tick is the middle. Measures that don't apply to a sector (cash-flow yield for banks, debt for financials) are left out.
What would Buffett & Lynch say?
Buffett's checklist is built around durable, profitable businesses bought at sensible prices, and BALL doesn't clear enough of it yet. In its favor: BALL is currently earning a strong return on shareholders' equity, and has kept that profitability up over five years, not just this year, has grown earnings per share at a solid clip over five years, is trading below what a conservative discounted-cash-flow estimate says it's worth - his own "price is what you pay, value is what you get" test, not a fixed multiple ceiling, and trades at a reasonable multiple of owner earnings, his own term for the real cash a business could pay out. Where it comes up short: BALL carries more debt relative to equity than he typically tolerates, runs thinner pretax margins than he'd like to see, and doesn't cover its interest expense as comfortably as he'd want.
- ROE (TTM) > 11% ✓
- ROE (5yr avg) > 11% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- Pretax margin > 15% ✕
- EPS growth (5yr) > 7% ✓
- Interest coverage > 5x ✕
- Trading below intrinsic value (DCF) ✓
- Price vs. owner earnings < 25x ✓
- Bonus: returning capital via buybacks FY2025
Lynch looked for growth stories that weren't overpriced for that growth, and BALL falls short of his bar. In its favor: BALL isn't asking too much even by a fast grower's usual richer multiple, and is generating real cash to back up a fast grower's higher price tag. Where it comes up short: BALL doesn't clear the tighter PEG bar a fast grower needs to justify its pace, is growing earnings outside the 20-50% band he considered sustainable for a fast grower - either not fast enough to earn the label, or a pace he'd flag as unlikely to hold up, and is leaning on more debt than he liked a growth story to carry.
- PEG < 1 (stricter for fast growers) ✕
- EPS growth 20%-50% ✕
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- P/E < 40 ✓
- Price/FCF < 40 ✓
Quantitative approximations of each investor's documented approach, not endorsed by either investor or their estates - commentary, not this site's actual ranking criteria. Buffett never published a numeric checklist: only 2 of his 8 checks here trace to his own documented concepts ("owner earnings," from his 1986 shareholder letter, and "price is what you pay, value is what you get," his case against fixed P/E/P/B ceilings) - the other 6 (ROE, debt, margins, growth, interest coverage) use commonly-cited thresholds that are not numbers he himself published. The 8 hard filters below (plus the Munger check and Graham margin of safety) are this site's real, mechanical screen and are computed completely independently of the checklists above.
Berkshire Hathaway's own filing
Which of the 8 value filters does Ball pass?
- Market Cap > $25B $17.3B
- Trailing P/E < 25 18.31
- PEG Ratio < 1.5 1.32
- Price/Book < 8 3.02
- Price/Sales < 7 1.21
- EPS Growth YoY > -5% +8.4%
- vs 50-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
- vs 200-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
What is Ball's margin of safety?
History tracking starts this week - check back in a future week to see how this has moved.
Where is Ball in its 52-week range?
What is the short interest in Ball?
7,952,765 shares short as of 2026-09-30 (FINRA settlement date). Reported twice a month, so this only changes roughly every two weeks, not daily.
What could go wrong with Ball? Munger's inversion check
"Invert, always invert." Instead of reasons to buy, these are reasons to hesitate, not a verdict, and not everything worth knowing about a business.
- Margin of safety, even in the bull case +66%
- Short interest under 5% of float 3.0%
- Passes most of the 6 fundamental filters 5/6 passed
- Price run-up backed by value, not just momentum +42% off 52wk low
- Debt/equity stable since 2016 2.15 → 1.29
Doesn't cover circle of competence, management quality, or accounting concerns: those need judgment, not data.
How much have Ball shareholders gained per year?
Earnings growth per share plus dividend.
An earnings-based proxy, not a stock-price total return - it doesn't capture multiple expansion/contraction or reinvested dividends. EPS from BALL's own 10-K filings; dividend yield is the current trailing yield on today's price, from the same weekly fetch as the rest of this site.
What do Ball's 10-year financials show?
From BALL's own 10-K filings (SEC EDGAR): up to the last 10 fiscal years. Press any year's bars for the exact figures.
Frequently asked questions about Ball
What kind of company is Ball?
Ball Corporation makes aluminum beverage cans for drink companies around the world. This site groups it with Packaging stocks.
Is Ball trading above or below its DCF value?
At $65.81, BALL trades 42.5% below this site's neutral DCF value of $114.38 per share, a margin of safety of +42.5%. That DCF projects free cash flow for 10 years, with growth starting at 8% and fading to 2.5%, discounted at 10%; it is one set of assumptions, not a forecast. Test your own in the Intrinsic Value Calculator.
How many of this site's 8 value filters does Ball pass?
BALL passes 5 of 8. It passes Trailing P/E < 25 (18.31), PEG Ratio < 1.5 (1.32), Price/Book < 8 (3.02), Price/Sales < 7 (1.21) and EPS Growth YoY > -5% (+8.4%). It misses Market Cap > $25B ($17.3B). vs 50-day MA (±12%) and vs 200-day MA (±12%) were not evaluated, because the moving-average checks only run on stocks that clear the fundamentals first. The 8-filter list shows every stock that passes all of them.
Are Ball's reported earnings reliable?
This site's earnings-quality check rates BALL Mixed · 1 flag. Beneish M-score −2.42 · accruals −1.9% of assets · 57% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 0.2% of revenue · share count −6.7% a year. From the latest 10-K (year to Dec 2025). Concerns: cash conversion (flagged). The five checks are the Beneish M-score (manipulation risk), accruals, cash conversion, stock-based compensation and share dilution; the Earnings Quality Screener shows how each is graded.
Where is Ball trading compared with its 52-week range?
At $65.81, BALL trades 41.7% above its 52-week low of $46.41 and 2.9% below its 52-week high of $67.76.
When does Ball report earnings next?
Ball's next earnings report is expected on November 3, 2026, with analysts expecting earnings of $1.09 per share. Dates come from the Finnhub earnings calendar and can move. In its last 4 quarters it beat the estimate 2 times, by an average of +2.3%.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Financial statements: Ball's 10-K annual report for the year ended Dec 31, 2025, filed Feb 19, 2026 (filing index). Every earlier year in the 10-year financials comes from the company's older 10-K filings, all listed on SEC EDGAR.
- Prices and market data: quotes, P/E and analyst ratings from Finnhub; daily price history and the 52-week range from Twelve Data, both refreshed weekly. Short interest comes from FINRA, reported twice a month.
- How to check a figure: click any number in the card above to see its exact source, and read the Editorial Standards for every rule behind the checks.
About this Ball Corp analysis
This page shows every value-investing check the site runs on Ball Corp (BALL) in one place: the 8 mechanical filters, the Buffett and Lynch checklists, a margin of safety from a disclosed DCF, earnings quality, shareholder yield and how it ranks against its sector peers. The numbers come from SEC filings and public market data, refreshed weekly, and the same rules apply to every stock on the stock list. See Editorial Standards for the sources and the rules, or run your own filters in the stock screener.