Stock Analysis · Greif Bros Corporation (GEF)

Overview

Greif Bros Corporation (GEF) is a packaging company that makes and reconditions industrial containers used to ship, store, and protect goods. Its products are typically used by businesses rather than consumers directly, including customers in chemicals, coatings, food ingredients, agriculture, and other industrial supply chains. The company operates in the Packaging & Containers industry, where demand is often tied to overall manufacturing activity and trade volumes.

Revenue generally comes from selling packaging products (and related services) across a mix of container types and materials. In Greif’s public reporting, revenue is commonly discussed by business segments and product families (for example, rigid industrial packaging, flexible packaging, paper packaging, and services such as reconditioning and container lifecycle solutions). Exact revenue percentages by source are not included in the figures shown in this article.

Over the period shown, total revenue trends lower versus earlier years (from about $6.35B in 2022 to about $4.29B in 2025). Costs of revenue remain the largest expense line, which is typical in packaging because raw materials and manufacturing are significant cost drivers. Interest expense also varies meaningfully across years, which can reflect changes in debt levels and/or interest rates.

Key Figures

Greif’s equity value is about $4.30B, and the stock’s beta of about 0.96 suggests price moves have been close to the broader market on average. The P/E ratio is about 31.1 versus an industry median near 21.8, indicating a higher earnings multiple than many peers at this point in time. Profit margin is shown at about 25.0% versus an industry median near 5.6%, while year-over-year revenue growth is about -2.2% versus an industry median around +6.0%. Debt-to-equity is about 42.7% versus an industry median near 137.3%. Free cash flow (TTM) is shown as approximately -$299M.

Growth (Medium)

Packaging is a large, mature industry with steady long-term demand tied to consumer staples, industrial production, and shipping activity. For industrial packaging in particular, growth often depends more on volumes, pricing discipline, and efficiency than on rapid market expansion. Potential structural tailwinds can include rising focus on reuse/reconditioning, lightweighting, and sustainability-related customer requirements, but these trends typically play out gradually.

The year-over-year revenue growth pattern shown is volatile, with strong positives earlier in the period and multiple negative periods afterward. The most recent point shown in the table is slightly negative (-2.2%), which is below the industry median (+6.0%). This kind of profile can happen when end markets cool, when pricing normalizes after prior increases, or when volumes soften. For long-term business momentum, it becomes important to watch whether revenue stabilizes and whether the company can offset slower volumes through mix, pricing, and operational improvements.

Free cash flow in the trailing twelve months is shown as negative (about -$299M), while earlier points in the period were positive (roughly $239M to $463M). A swing like this can occur due to changes in profitability, working capital needs (inventory and receivables), restructuring cash costs, capital spending, or one-time items. For a packaging manufacturer, sustained free cash flow matters because it supports reinvestment in plants, debt repayment, and returns of capital over time.

Risks (Medium)

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Some content is AI-generated. See Disclaimer