CCK to Add Production Line at Ponta Grossa, Sees $800M FCF in 2025

Crown Holdings, Inc. CCK announced plans to add another high-speed production line to its beverage can plant in Ponta Grossa. With this expansion, Crown Holdings will be better equipped to meet the growing demands of its beverage customers in southern Brazil, covering both alcoholic and non-alcoholic businesses. 

The company expects commercial production to begin in the third quarter of 2026.

CCK’s Ponta Grossa Plant

Located in the state of Parana, the Ponta Grossa plant was built in 2011. Currently, the plant operates two high-speed production lines.

It has an annual capacity of 2.4 billion cans, with capacity expected to increase to 3.6 billion cans upon the completion of the third line. This will make the plant Crown Holdings' largest operation in Brazil.

Crown Holdings Maintains 2025 Outlook

CCK expects 2025 adjusted free cash flow of $800 million. It expects a capital expenditure of $450 million for 2025. 

Crown Holding expects adjusted earnings per share between $1.80 and $1.90 in the second quarter of 2025. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) in the second quarter of 2024 were $1.81. 

The company projects adjusted EPS of $6.70-$7.10 for the year. The mid-point of the guidance implies year-over-year growth of 8%.

CCK’s Q1 Performance

The company reported first-quarter 2025 adjusted EPS of $1.67, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.22 by a solid margin of 37%. The bottom line marked a 64% year-over-year improvement.  

Earnings growth was driven by higher beverage can shipments across the Americas and Europe, enhanced manufacturing efficiencies, and cost savings from the company’s restructuring initiatives.

Net sales in the quarter totaled $2.89 billion, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.87 billion. The figure also marked an improvement of 3.7% from the year-ago quarter’s $2.78 billion. The upside was driven by increased beverage can shipments in the Americas and European Beverage, and the pass-through of higher material costs. These gains were, however, partially offset by the unfavorable foreign currency impacts.

Crown Holdings Stock’s Price Performance

The company’s shares have gained 19.7% in the past year against the industry’s 4.7% decline.

CCK’s Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

Crown Holdings currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other top-ranked stocks from the Industrial Products sector are Life360, Inc. LIF, IHI Corporation IHICY and Federal Signal Corporation FSS. LIF and IHICY sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and FSS has a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Life360 delivered an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 415%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LIF’s 2025 earnings is pinned at 24 cents per share, which indicates a year-over-year upsurge of 500%. Life360’s shares have skyrocketed 125% in a year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IHI Corp’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $1.26 per share, indicating a year-over-year increase of 3.8%. IHI Corp’s shares have soared 272% in a year.

Federal Signal delivered an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 6.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FSS’ 2025 earnings is pinned at $3.83 per share, which indicates year-over-year growth of 14.6%. The company’s shares have gained 10% in a year.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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