COMPARE · Reviewed July 29, 2026
SON vs SW
Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. SON scored 70.7, SW scored 59.9 — SON leads.
Compare another set
SON
Sonoco Products Company
70.7
$56.78 · $5.6B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
10.8
SON leads
SW
Smurfit Westrock Plc
59.9
$47.42 · $24.9B
fundamentals as of
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
SON
stronger →← stronger
SW
63
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
44
67
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
97
84
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
50
SON is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
SON
SW
$217mC
FCF
$1.0bC+
+31.2%A
Rev
+20.9%A-
1.31C+
D/E
0.79B
8.8xA
P/E
50.4xC
0.21A
PEG
0.26A
Winner per row is the stronger grade in our model; a tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
SON
SW
54% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
2% below
~17%/yr
Growth the price implies10-yr FCF · lower = less priced in
~14%/yr
-40%
1-yr DCF upside
-23%
-35%
5-yr DCF upside
+2%
-28%
10-yr DCF upside
+53%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
SON
No notable signals flagged.
SW
Why this score
- Cut its dividend
The companies
SONSonoco Products Company
Why now
Packaging & Containers · market cap $5.6b. 6% off the 52-week high of $60.67. Revenue growing +31% — in hypergrowth territory. PEG 0.21 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 9 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $63.78 (implying +12% upside).
Moat
Net margin 14% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 28% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which.
Risk
Value re-rating depends on a catalyst. Without one — analyst day, divestiture, margin recovery, capital return — the stock can stay cheap on these multiples for years.
SWSmurfit Westrock Plc
Why now
Packaging & Containers · market cap $24.9b. 10% off the 52-week high of $52.65. Revenue growing +21%, comfortably above the S&P median. PEG 0.26 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 15 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $55.19 (implying +16% upside).
Moat
Free cash flow runs well ahead of reported net income — non-cash charges (depreciation, intangible amortization) are holding down GAAP earnings while cash generation stays strong.
Risk
Trailing P/E 50.4x prices in sustained high growth — any quarter that disappoints triggers sharp re-rating. Net margin 1.2% is thin — operating leverage cuts both ways; input-cost inflation or pricing pressure hits the bottom line first. ROE 2% is below the long-run sustainable threshold of ~10% — capital efficiency would need to improve for the equity base to compound at the market rate.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.