Smurfit Westrock plc (SW)

Price$46.00Cached quoteAs of 2026-09-25 10:18 UTC

AI: Fair-priced

Price checkSmurfit Westrock looks reasonably valued, with attractive operating assets offset by high debt and uneven cash generation.

The latest clearly verifiable close before this research timestamp was $48.71 on August 19, 2026. Using roughly 524.5 million June shares, the equity value is about $25.5 billion. Adding approximately $12.6 billion of net debt gives an enterprise value near $38 billion, roughly nine times recent annualized operating earnings before interest and depreciation. The dividend yields about 3.7%. That valuation is reasonable for a global packaging leader, but leverage and volatile free cash flow prevent a clear undervaluation case.

Big pictureThe merger created enormous scale, but packaging profits still move with industrial demand, paper prices, and input costs.

Annual revenue reached $31.18 billion in 2025, reflecting the combined Smurfit Kappa and WestRock businesses. Second-quarter 2026 sales rose modestly to $8.03 billion, but adjusted operating earnings before interest and depreciation fell to $1.14 billion from $1.21 billion as freight and other inputs increased. Paper demand remained strong and supply was tight, supporting pricing. Packaging demand is relatively defensive because consumer and industrial goods still require boxes, yet volumes and margins can weaken when manufacturing, e-commerce, or customer inventories slow.

Business strengthScale and merger savings support earnings, while heavy debt and large investment needs restrict shareholder flexibility.

Smurfit Westrock generated $3.39 billion of operating cash flow in 2025, but spent $2.19 billion on capital projects. Over the latest four quarters, free cash flow—cash left after operations and capital spending—was only about $1.0 billion because investment remains elevated. June debt was $13.23 billion against $677 million of cash. Share dilution has been modest since the merger, while buybacks are negligible and dividends consume substantial cash. Management therefore must prioritize integration savings, capital discipline and debt reduction before aggressive shareholder returns.

What could change the storyMerger savings and stronger packaging prices could create upside, while weak volumes or persistent inflation would pressure returns.

The bull case is that Smurfit Westrock captures the full benefits of combining two large packaging networks while tight paper markets support pricing and mill efficiency. Management is also closing inefficient capacity, including a 200,000-tonne Birmingham paper mill, and expects pricing actions to recover freight and other cost inflation. The bear case is that packaging volumes stay sluggish while debt remains above $12 billion and capital spending stays heavy. Around nine times recent operating earnings before interest and depreciation, today's price assumes meaningful integration progress but not a perfect cycle.

AI: News

Second-quarter profit missRevenue beat expectations, but higher freight costs squeezed profits and pushed the shares sharply lower.

On July 29, 2026, Smurfit Westrock reported $8.03 billion of sales and $0.35 of adjusted earnings per share, versus roughly $7.88 billion and $0.42 expected by Wall Street. Adjusted operating earnings before interest and depreciation were $1.14 billion, down from $1.21 billion a year earlier, as freight and other costs rose. Investing.com reported shares fell about 5.8% before the market opened, and the stock ultimately closed 5.0% lower. The miss reduced near-term margin expectations despite strong paper demand.

UK mill closureSmurfit Westrock closed an inefficient paper mill, sacrificing capacity to improve its European cost structure.

On June 29, 2026, Smurfit Westrock confirmed the closure of its SSK paper mill in Birmingham, with production ending July 27. The facility produced about 200,000 tonnes of fluting and liner annually and employed 117 people. Its output will be redistributed across the company's wider European network. The closure follows sustained challenging market conditions and is intended to improve competitiveness. No reliable isolated share-price reaction was established, so its significance is mainly lower fixed costs and better network utilization.

London listing endedSmurfit Westrock simplified its market listing by concentrating all trading in New York, reducing administrative complexity.

On June 22, 2026, Smurfit Westrock completed the delisting of its shares from the London Stock Exchange, leaving the New York Stock Exchange as its sole listing venue. Management cited low London trading activity together with regulatory and administrative costs. The change does not alter operating earnings or ownership economics, and no reliable material stock reaction was established. Its importance is mainly simplification: concentrating liquidity and reporting around one primary market can modestly reduce corporate costs and investor complexity.

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Revenue

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Total cash / debt

CashTotal debt

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Financial statements

	2025	2024	2023	2022
Revenue	$31.18B	$21.11B	$12.09B	$13.51B
Gross profit	$6.04B	$4.20B	$3.05B	$3.27B
Gross margin	19.38%	19.87%	25.25%	24.22%
Operating expenses	$4.32B	$3.19B	$1.68B	$1.71B
Operating income	$1.72B	$1.01B	$1.37B	$1.56B
Operating margin	5.51%	4.77%	11.35%	11.53%
EBITDA	$4.27B	$2.47B	$1.95B	$2.12B
EBITDA margin	13.69%	11.71%	16.14%	15.71%
Net income	$699.0M	$319.0M	$825.0M	$1.03B
Net profit margin	2.24%	1.51%	6.82%	7.65%
Basic EPSper basic share	$1.34	$0.83	$3.19	$4.00
Diluted EPSper diluted share	$1.33	$0.82	$3.17	$3.96

Review official source filings ↗

Owners

Reported shareholders

Reference date Jun 30, 2026

8.67%of listed shares

BlackRock, Inc.45.5M shares · Jun 30, 2026

View holders

Top 20 reported holders of SW
Holder	% owned
BlackRock, Inc.	8.67%45.5M shares
Capital Research Global Investors	8.13%42.63M shares
VANGUARD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC	6.53%34.25M shares
STATE STREET CORP	5.35%28.06M shares
Nuveen, LLC	4.73%24.81M shares
VANGUARD PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT LLC	4.64%24.36M shares
Capital World Investors	2.95%15.47M shares
CAUSEWAY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC	2.87%15.04M shares
GEODE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC	2.77%14.54M shares
FRANKLIN RESOURCES INC	2.57%13.46M shares
Invesco Ltd.	2.18%11.43M shares
AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL INC	1.90%9.95M shares
Bank of New York Mellon Corp	1.89%9.9M shares
NORGES BANK	1.88%9.88M shares
MORGAN STANLEY	1.47%7.71M shares
FMR LLC	1.43%7.5M shares
GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC	1.39%7.29M shares
DEUTSCHE BANK AG\	1.30%6.82M shares
Orbis Allan Gray Ltd	1.12%5.88M shares
BANK OF AMERICA CORP /DE/	1.10%5.76M shares

Percentages use 524.52M shares of this listed class outstanding on Jun 30, 2026.

Gray completes the 100% scale. Reported positions may overlap; holders have different reporting dates.

Source: SEC Form 13F ↗Updated Sep 29, 2026 · Quarterly data

Insider buys & sells

Jul 1, 2024–Jun 30, 2026

Buys1$595.2K disclosed value

Sells (SEC code S)9$10.59M disclosed value

Transaction	Insider	Type	Shares	Price	Value	Owned after
Feb 19, 2026Form 4	Bowles KenExecutive VP and Group CFO	SellOrdinary Shares	10.0K	$51.26	$512.6K	151.6K
Feb 19, 2026Form 4	SMURFIT ANTHONY P JPresident and Group CEO	SellOrdinary Shares	40.0K	$51.54	$2.06M	1.64M
Feb 18, 2026Form 4	Sellier LaurentSee remarks	SellOrdinary Shares	9.9K	$50.22	$496.0K	115.3K
Feb 18, 2026Form 4	Sellier LaurentSee remarks	SellOrdinary Shares	5.7K	$50.28	$285.8K	125.2K
May 6, 2025Form 4	Finan IrialDirector	BuyCommon Stock	15.2K	$39.21	$595.2K	54.9K

Review ownership filings at SEC.gov ↗

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Smurfit Westrock plc (SW)

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