Overview
Deutsche Bank assesses that the U.S. packaging sector will confront a difficult macroeconomic landscape in 2026, characterized by ongoing cost inflation, sustained high oil prices, tariff-driven pressures and weak consumer demand. Despite these challenges, the bank pinpoints selective investment opportunities among firms whose business mix pairs defensive, essential end markets with higher-growth, value-added segments.
Why select these names
The bank's rationale centers on three structural traits: diversification across end markets and geographies, ability to pass through costs via pricing power, and strategic positioning in segments that can deliver above-average growth or margins. Deutsche Bank identifies six companies that it views as preferred holdings on this basis.
Company highlights
- Amcor - Amcor is noted for its large global presence across both flexible and rigid packaging formats, with significant exposure to defensive categories such as food, beverage and healthcare. Deutsche Bank points to the company's flexible packaging business as a strength, underpinned by steady demand and innovation in more sustainable materials. The bank also highlights scale, geographic diversification and ongoing cost discipline and pricing actions as margin support in an inflationary setting.
- Avery Dennison - Avery Dennison is singled out for its labeling solutions and an expanding foothold in intelligent packaging and RFID technologies. The firm’s connections to apparel, logistics and retail give it leverage to cyclical recovery alongside structural trends such as supply chain digitization. Deutsche Bank emphasizes the high-margin Intelligent Labels segment as a key growth driver as brands increase adoption of data-driven inventory and tracking tools.
- Ball Corporation - Ball Corporation, a leader in aluminum beverage packaging, benefits from sustainability trends favoring recyclable materials. The bank notes that softer beverage volumes have pressured near-term demand, but says Ball’s focus on operational efficiency and portfolio optimization underpins earnings resilience. Ball’s global beverage exposure and sustainability commitments are cited as supporting its long-term growth profile.
- Crown Holdings - Crown Holdings is described as a specialist in metal packaging for food, beverage and aerosol products, providing a mix of defensive and growth-oriented end markets. Deutsche Bank highlights steady demand for food cans and growth capture in beverage packaging. The bank also points to ongoing restructuring and cost control efforts that enhance profitability, and notes the company’s global footprint as an advantage in responding to regional demand shifts.
- Silgan Holdings - Silgan is identified for its dual exposure to stable and higher-growth segments. Its metal containers business, particularly in wet pet food, is noted for delivering stable cash flows, while the Dispensing and Specialty Closures segment contributes a higher-margin growth engine. Deutsche Bank highlights that more than half of Silgan’s EBITDA derives from this latter segment, positioning the company to benefit from premiumization and innovation in dispensing, while trading at relatively attractive valuation levels.
- Sonoco Products Company - Sonoco is presented as a diversified packaging company spanning consumer and industrial markets, with strengths in paper-based and composite solutions. The bank notes that its exposure to defensive consumer goods and industrial end markets provides balance, and that portfolio optimization efforts are sharpening the company’s focus on higher-margin areas. Deutsche Bank also cites Sonoco’s emphasis on sustainability and innovation as supportive of competitiveness amid near-term supply-demand pressures in fiber-based packaging.
Bottom line
Deutsche Bank’s list targets companies that combine defensive, essential end-market exposure with higher-growth, value-added segments and operational levers such as cost discipline and pricing power. The bank views this mix as the most likely to preserve margins and earnings resilience as the broader packaging sector contends with inflationary cost pressures, oil price sensitivity and tariff-related challenges alongside soft consumer demand.
Note: This article presents Deutsche Bank's assessment and the companies the bank highlights as preferred investments within the packaging sector. It focuses on the specific factors the bank identifies as supportive of resilience and selective opportunity in 2026.