Note: This is an earnings call transcript. Content may contain errors.
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Date

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025 at 11 a.m. ET

Call participants

President — Brandon Potthoff

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer — Dan Fisher

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Takeaways

Volume Growth Outlook -- Management expects global volume growth to be above 2%-3%, with North America projected above the 1%-3% range, EMEA anticipated at the upper end of its 3%-5% range, and South America in the 4%-6% range.

Millersburg (Oregon) Facility -- The Millersburg plant is scheduled to come online in the second half of 2026, unlocking approximately $1.5 billion of improved volume in 2027, estimated at up to 3% volume growth and supporting higher asset utilization in the Western U.S. and Mexico.

Contracted Volumes -- Management described the contractual outlook as "as I have seen for us in the fifteen years I have been at Ball Corporation (BALL +2.30%)," according to Brandon Potthoff, with further benefits from contract shifts expected in 2027.

Inventory Increase -- Inventories rose by approximately $500 million year-over-year, attributed roughly two-thirds to higher aluminum costs and one-third to increased days of supply to meet elevated customer demand.

Operating Cost Trends -- Tariff-driven inefficiencies continue but the suddenness from earlier volume shocks has subsided; ongoing management of these costs is required.

Mix Shift and Leverage -- Product mix changes have modestly dragged performance, but 80% of intended category shifts are now complete and mix is expected to largely normalize by 2027 with capacity additions.

CapEx Guidance -- Capital expenditures this year and last were below depreciation; preliminary expectation for next year is a range at or slightly above depreciation levels.

Share Repurchases -- Over $3 billion in shares will have been repurchased through the current year, with a plan to return to historical buyback averages moving forward.

Florida Can Plant -- The facility is operating as anticipated and is positioned to handle volume increases and supply chain tariff challenges; more capacity unlocks are planned next year.

Energy and CSD End-Markets -- Energy grew by 4.8% over fifty-two weeks; alcoholic beverages declined 2.5%; contract portfolio has been rebalanced toward faster-growing segments.

Contract Wins for 2027-2028 -- Management referenced new customer contracts for North America extending into 2027 and 2028, supporting tighter market conditions and anticipated record can profitability in 2027.

European Growth Strategy -- Ball Corporation (BALL +2.30%) is investing methodically in new capacity to serve a European market characterized by a favorable substrate shift from glass to aluminum cans due to environmental and market factors.

ORG Technology Stake -- Ball Corporation (BALL +2.30%) made a €47 million investment in ORG Technology (SSE: 002701), which Dan Fisher identified as "the largest beverage can producer in China," as part of a long-term strategic partnership.

Summary

Management confirmed that volume growth across key regions is trending at or above internal expectations, with positive demand signals from promotional activity and new category innovation. Major investments in the Millersburg facility and enhancements at the Florida Can plant will enable additional capacity and operational efficiency, positioning the company for a step change in growth and profitability in 2027. Contractual visibility is described as unusually strong, with significant new multi-year agreements secured for North America and EMEA segments through 2028. The announced €47 million equity stake in ORG Technology aligns with Ball Corporation’s broader globalization and customer partnership strategy, especially in China. Moderation in share buybacks is planned, but capital allocation to shareholder returns remains a consistent management priority.

Brandon Potthoff said, "They say, the only thing I can tell you Dan is cans are going to continue to grow. What can size, I cannot tell you. What channel, I cannot tell you. But they are to continue to grow. We are going to use cans," highlighting management's confidence in sustained demand.

Tariff-related supply chain challenges are being mitigated by improvements in footprint optimization, especially as new domestic aluminum sheet supply capacity comes online.

Management identified 99% asset utilization expected in North America for 2026, signaling tight capacity until new projects are completed.

Company leadership noted that 2026 will involve some transition costs and tight supply, but margin and operating leverage should substantially improve in 2027.

The assembled leadership acknowledged no major concerns regarding raw aluminum metal or can sheet supply, with current and future sourcing arrangements reported as solid.

Industry glossary

Can sheet: Rolled, processed aluminum material specifically manufactured for beverage can production.

Multipack: Consumer packaging format with multiple single-serve cans bundled for retail sale, often used in promotions to drive volume.

CSD: Carbonated Soft Drink; a major end-market for Ball Corporation's aluminum cans.

ORG Technology: Chinese publicly traded beverage can manufacturer and strategic partner to Ball Corporation.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Brandon Potthoff: They say, the only thing I can tell you Dan is cans are going to continue to grow. What can size, I cannot tell you. What channel, I cannot tell you. But they are to continue to grow. We are going to use cans. We have not seen the returnable glass shift in South America. But usually that is driven from an inflationary market dynamic. It has been more cold weather, but there certainly is a bit of inflation in Brazil in particular. So we are keeping our eyes on that. But as you transition into 2026, you have also got an election and a World Cup. And usually on both of those instances, cans do really well.

So I think we may be protected for a period of time. And then lastly, yes, we have we are very aware of what has been said publicly. There I think all of our all of the CSD players that are in the seven and a half ounce format are pushing that. That is value proposition both for the end consumer and for them. And I think this is just another application of using the 7.5 ounce can for price point, which says a lot about where the end consumer is in terms of the size of their grocery basket, etcetera. The can works really well on small sizes and so we are excited about the opportunity.

I do not know how big it will be. But it should be incremental lift to us both from them and then the knock on effect from their competitors. Thank you, Dan. Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Stefan Diaz with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed with your question.

Stefan Diaz: Hi, Dan and Dan. Thanks for taking my questions. So I guess maybe just to start, there has been some discussion regarding contract movements potentially impacting next year by your peers in North America. Do you see any potential shifts impacting your volume performance in 2026 in the region?

Brandon Potthoff: Short answer, no. This is as strong a contractual outlook as I have seen for us in the fifteen years I have been at Ball Corporation. There have been some movements. In many instances, we benefited from those movements. And '27 will benefit further. For us, we are a bit hamstrung on growth in 2026 until we get our Millersburg facility up. So it will be tight for us, but we appear to be full and that is the plan we are operating against right now.

Stefan Diaz: Okay, great. That is helpful. And maybe just sticking with the organ plant, can you remind us what volume impact this will have in 2026? Or not really because I believe you were maybe shipping those cans from elsewhere? And secondly, how should we think about the potential margin lift when that plant gets up the learning curve or at least starts to open, I guess, in 2026? And then balancing that with a potential Mexico headwind because I know you were shipping cans from there. I guess how should we think about those puts and takes? Thanks.

Brandon Potthoff: Yes. We will get we are working through a number of plans at the moment. That will on the Mexico piece, excuse me. That will help to clear kind of direction of flight on any supply chain changes that we need to do. That will be a transient movement in between '26 and twenty seven. And then for Millersburg, should say, I contemplate $1.5 billion of improved volume in 2027, somewhere in that range. Which could be as much as 3%.

And that is going to be unlocked from really a very tight portfolio in the Western Half of The U.S. and Texas, in Mexico, in the Southwest, as you know, so we will be able to step into some contracted volume into 'twenty seven and then properly supply our customers in the Northwest from the most efficient supply point. So you will have a little bit of startup costs in 2026, you will recover that and then you will margin on top of that. So you will see, I think we will return to record can profitability and improve can profitability in 2027 even off of what we have today.

Stefan Diaz: Very helpful. I will turn it over.

Brandon Potthoff: Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Michael Roxland with Truist. Please proceed with your question.

Michael Roxland: Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. This is Niccolo Andreas Piccini on for Mike. Hi, Niko. Just I just wanted to dial in kind of on 4Q and maybe dig deeper into the volume trends you are seeing or expecting by category in North America? And then any commentary on promotional activity and if you can give a read on October month sorry, October and then November month to date volumes?

Brandon Potthoff: Sure. So in 3Q, I think everyone on this call probably receives a scanner data. We do as well. So, I will not spend time going through the category specific data, but what we see in our customers across categories continue to promote and lean on multipack value and the cans are winning against other substrates. In that environment. And I would say for the balance of the year, and please refer back to the script, but we expect at a global level to be above the 2% to 3% growth rate. And by region, North America will be above the 1% to three you can kind of reverse engineer the fourth quarter.

EMEA has the possibility to be at the top end of its three to five, so we are expecting that top end. And then the range in South America will be in that four to six long term range. So you can reverse engineer in that fourth quarter, but October it is in line. With our expectations at this point. There were some price increases that were taken by our customers in October. They were also offset with some traditional promotional activity in terms of buy two get one free. So the blended price is not representative of the full price that was taken on the retail shelves. And I think that somewhat insulated us.

And then for Europe, and for North America historically, December is kind of where the plus and minus is. So we get through football season in football season in North America, we get through football season in Europe before they take a break. And then it is about as they describe it in The U.K, the silly season and then around the holidays and then how the Santa cans perform and things of that nature. But what we are hearing from our at this point and what we seeing in October, we are encouraged that we will we will land the year in line with our current expectations. Got it. Thank you. And then just one quick follow-up for me.

As you have owned Florida Can and brought that production there up, have you been able to unlock any additional capacity at that plant specifically?

Brandon Potthoff: Yes. And we are needing it to manage through some of the tariff supply chain challenges, but that plant is performing in line with our expectations. And next year we will stepping into even more volume and unlocking even more opportunities there. So that has been that has been a really good deal for us thus far. Got it. Thank you very much. I will turn it over. Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Anthony Pettinari with Citi. Please proceed with your question.

Anthony Pettinari: Good morning. Hi, good morning. Looking to 2026, understanding you are not giving like precise guidance, but is there any kind of directional about CapEx and any kind of additional color on the Oregon side and I think the North Carolina plant, which I do not know if you broke ground on, but there was some new stories about that maybe in September. Any details there? Yes, great. I will let Dan comment on early indications of CapEx. But for the Oregon plant, on time to come up in the second half of the year, so we are encouraged about that progress and that will unlock a much more efficient supply chain.

Obviously, you got to hire the people and stand up the facility and so there is traditional startup costs, but that bridges to a really healthy 2027 for us on a number of fronts. Concorde is something that we had a ribbon cutting ceremony with our one of our large strategic customers, but that is a ways out in terms of actually capital the ground and potential startup and that will ebb and flow with what is happening in the market. We are not the are not the gating factor for being able to run additional production for them. We have got opportunities to do short term smaller investments.

But if they continue to grow at the rate they have, we will be very excited to put that put a shovel in the ground and build that facility. So those are our plans right now for that.

Dan Fisher: Yes. And this is the other Dan. A little more about the CapEx. With this year and last year being below CapEx, below the depreciation levels. It is still real early for us to be able to call next year, we would be guiding you a little more in line with depreciation or even slightly above thinking about depreciation as a long term average for our CapEx. But take it as it is early days on our budget for next year.

Anthony Pettinari: Okay. That is very helpful. A follow-up on North America. I think last quarter, you talked about $1 billion operating cost headwind and I think that was can tariffs, maybe mix was a part of that. Did that repeat or step down in 3Q? Or is that kind of over with? Or I am just curious how that operating cost sort of headwind maybe 2Q to 3Q maybe to 4Q?

Brandon Potthoff: Yes. You should assume that we are continuing to manage through like for like inefficiencies from tariffs. But we are past the inefficiencies in terms of the suddenness of the volume. The tariffs are still ongoing and we are managing through those. And more to come on that as we evaluate long term supply chain dynamics and what is the best and optimal footprint for us.

Anthony Pettinari: Okay. That is very helpful. I will turn it over.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Philip H. Ng with Jefferies. Please proceed with your question.

Philip H. Ng: Hey, guys. Sorry, one more question on North America. It is great to see volumes been strong and mix has been a modest drag just as you optimize that portfolio. When we think about 26%, are you going to be in a pretty good spot, Dan, where mix is more neutral as we think about that going forward? And then some of the cost headwinds and inefficiencies that have weighed on operating leverage in North America. Should we see should we expect that to get back to more normal year or is still going be a kind of a work in progress?

Brandon Potthoff: A much smaller work in progress. Relative to some of the mix shift. We will have the startup of the facility in Oregon. I was about to say Ohio. It have my readers on reading the Oh versus the OR. And then, yeah, let us see let us see what we need to do as it relates to managing the underlying inefficiencies from the tariffs that we have been dealing with this year.

Philip H. Ng: Okay, got it. '27 will be anything that has to be managed will be transient in '26 including the startup of the facility. And how we deal with ongoing underlying tariff. Impacts. And so we are really doing all the right things and setting ourselves up for a really nice short and medium term outlook.

Dan Fisher: Yes. On that note, Dan, mean, sounds like you won business in 2027, 2028 in North America, which is great. And you commented on actually, record, can Profitability. For can for '27 which is exciting. Are most of those levers more on the cost and efficiency side? Or we should expect perhaps a better pricing environment just given how supply demand volumes have actually inflected pretty nicely in the last twelve months?

Brandon Potthoff: Yeah. The market's tight, Phil. I think you are right. You should see an elongated improvement in underlying economics of the business. That I think the industry will benefit from. And for us in particular, the things that we have been able to manage via the operating model changes, the operating earnings construction, the inefficiencies of a just a better performing manufacturing environment. And we are kind of early days even with AI deploying and there is a number of applications both commercially with AI and secondarily within supply chain and in our plants and operating our plants more efficiently through technology.

So there is room for margin improvement and it does not have to come on the backs of our customers. It can just come through improved performance. I am encouraged about that.

Philip H. Ng: Yeah. And just to sneak one in for the other Dan. How should we think about capital deployment when we think about 2026? Obviously, guys have done a phenomenal job in returning cash back to shareholders. Is that going to be the focus still? Or could M and A be an opportunity, at least there is some chatter about Europe Was the market you guys are at least taking a look at? So if you can help us think through mid medium long term value and deploy that excess cash.

Dan Fisher: Yeah. I think notably, you are going to see the on the share repurchase not to be at the same levels because through this year we will have bought back over $3 billion worth of shares. That is a path to being private if you think about it. So we will moderate back into probably some of our historical averages which you might have seen in the past. That is still being worked out on exact numbers. But we are going to continue to carry a conservative balance sheet and we are going to be wise on how we spend the capital.

So really this is this is really how we have always managed the business, looking at those three levers and trying to do the right thing to get the returns the right return for our shareholders.

Brandon Potthoff: And Phil, it is a would say it is a yes and on those two questions. So stay tuned.

Dan Fisher: All right. Thank you so much.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Jeffrey John Zekauskas with JPMorgan. Please proceed with your question.

Jeffrey John Zekauskas: Thanks very much.

Brandon Potthoff: Hi, Jeff.

Jeffrey John Zekauskas: Hi. Your inventories year over year are up around $500 million. I take it that is higher aluminum cost. Should your inventories continue to rise into the fourth quarter as aluminum values have lifted?

Brandon Potthoff: It is a combination of both. Great question. As you know, we did not have the right we did not have the right inventory mix in the third quarter last year specifically in South America. In terms of unit volume and days, I think we have added a few days to make sure that we are we are fit for purpose of what our customers need. We have got a couple customers even within our portfolio that are really outpacing what they expected at the beginning of the year. We have had some really good market trends. So we want to make sure we are we are ready for that. And managing that more appropriately.

I would say the two to three days is a better reflection of a healthy level of inventory. And then your other question is probably 50%, 60% is the increased aluminum. Value and aluminum costs. So I would say two thirds, one third. But that is how I would construct it.

Dan Fisher: And I think we might add that this is some terrific volume growth too that we have come into especially here in The United States too that has a role in this too.

Jeffrey John Zekauskas: Also in the in your financials, it said that you purchased an investment linked to the common stock of ORG technology? You bought you have a €47 million investment. What is ORG technology? And why do you own it? And what exactly do you own?

Dan Fisher: Yeah. Let you are referring to one of the notes in the release. In ORG technology, is the party who just acquired the controlling stake from our Saudi Arabian joint beverage can joint venture. And we have a long history and a good strategic relationship with them that dates back to the year 2018 when they bought our beverage can business and probably not too many people were at that earnings call, but we had at that time announced that we would be putting some investment into their company. They are the largest beverage can producer in China and they are traded public. So it is a small stake in their public company. For important strategic relationship for us.

Brandon Potthoff: And Jeff, I think you would anticipate that there is there is a number of strategic elements to that investment, so more to come on that.

Jeffrey John Zekauskas: Okay, great. Thank you so much.

Brandon Potthoff: Thank you, Jeff.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Christopher S. Parkinson with Wolfe Research. Proceed with your question.

Christopher S. Parkinson: Great. Thank you so much for taking my question. You have mentioned in the last two calls, good afternoon or I should say good morning still. You mentioned a few times in the two earnings calls, just about mix. And I understand there are a lot of moving parts. I mean there is big beer versus craft beer. There is new CST contracts. There is obviously some logistical things in terms of a large energy customer. But what approximately what quarter in 2026 do you think that is roughly going to normalize in terms of improving the Street's ability to better project volume versus operating leverage in your NCA business? Thank you.

Brandon Potthoff: It will be much cleaner in 2027. When we have a little bit more capacity. So capacity is one component of the difficulty to predict leverage fall through. The second one is just the shift into higher growth. Customers, higher growth categories, and we are through 80% of that. At this point for the next three years. So not a great deal of additional change in terms of our mix. But the navigating an incredibly tight, think we will be at 99% asset utilization next year. So how you are delivering on spikes and declines of volume line by line, SKU by SKU, that is going to that is going to be difficult for us manage the traditional flow through.

I think what you are seeing counter to that just in a corollary is we have put in excess capacity growing into a growing market in Europe. Much easier to flow through operational leverage at a more traditional rate when you have got that. You are not having to manage things. Kind of hand to mouth. Looking forward to having a little bit more capacity in the right locations in 2027.

Christopher S. Parkinson: So that actually leads me to my second question on Europe. I do not know if we have explicitly hit this on the call, but growing into a growing market, I mean, what is your kind of latest and greatest assessment based on what you are hearing from your customers in terms of the outlook for 2728 in terms of the need or perhaps it is already accounted for additional supply capacity? In Europe, in particular?

Brandon Potthoff: Europe is I think you are hearing it from a lot of our competitors as well and our customers. For the can, it is a land of opportunity. It is because it still has heavy glass substrate composition. And glass has got a really bad carbon footprint. And so there is investments away from glass. Cans preferred, Europe is not Europe, obviously it is not homogenous. So depending on what the markets are will depend on what the can size is, depending on is it a vacation spot like Southern Europe is? Which is more seasonal. I think all of these factors weigh into what is the right capacity and where.

And obviously, it is a much more discerning investment in that market for all of us given the labor laws the works council, and the challenge to garner environmental permitting etcetera. So it is if you endeavor to build there, it is it is much more difficult, much more specific much more thoughtful approach that you have to take in those markets. And I am very encouraged about the capital we have deployed there and the benefits we have gotten. And as we continue to do that, it is you have to be methodical about it for sure.

Christopher S. Parkinson: Very helpful. Thank you so much.

Brandon Potthoff: Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Edlain S. Rodriguez with Mizuho. Please proceed with your question.

Edlain S. Rodriguez: Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Dan, quick one for you. I mean, you have heard your best you have addressed most of the key issues. So one quick one here. As you look at all the puts and takes in the different regions and so forth, like, what worries you the most? Like, what do you see as under your control? And what do you see as, like, you know, things you cannot control? Yeah. It is like, what worries you the most as you get into the next year and year after that?

Brandon Potthoff: Little worries me. At this point. I say this with the greatest of respect for the team that I am managing and working with. We have hit a number of outsized challenges here over the last three or four years. That really no one in our industry has had to deal with. No one had to deal with Russia. No one had to deal with the marketing issue and the white beer category. No one had a business in Argentina. So the team is masterfully going through that and we have stood up a new operating model. And not to mention what is happened here recently with the trade challenges.

But certainly five eighty year olds controlling the majority of the large largest economies in the world and what they want to do tomorrow, I cannot spend a whole lot of time deliberating that and what the what ifs are, but trusting and leaning in on our team making sure that they have the energy and they believe we are winning and that we have a winning formula. That is where I am spending the most of my time. But I appreciate the question.

Edlain S. Rodriguez: No. So that is it. So as you look at your stock price kind of been under pressure. So when you look at capital allocation, are you looking like in terms of share buyback more opportunistically or you are not trying to be more aggressive? Like what are you thinking there in terms of the disconnect between what you think you can deliver and what the stock is reflecting?

Brandon Potthoff: Well, we think we are very cheap. I think we believe that looking at our five year outlook, looking at our plans, looking at the historical valuation of this company, looking at how we are performing and winning in virtually every single capacity. So, we I would say we are not we are opportunistic in the sense that we think we are cheap. But we are going to be very deliberate in returning value to shareholders. When we are at our best, we return value to our shareholders in a consistent manner. And as long as I see a really positive and constructive outlook, we will continue to keep the foot on the gas in terms of the share buyback.

Edlain S. Rodriguez: Makes sense. Thank you. Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Arun Shankar Viswanathan with RBC. Please proceed with your question.

Arun Shankar Viswanathan: Great. Thanks for taking my question. Hope you guys are well. Congrats on a strong quarter here and outlook. So I guess my first question, maybe I could just ask about the categories. So in North America this year, think we are categorized or characterized by a very strong energy market, somewhat off of easy comps but also I think the consumer has pivoted that way to get maybe caffeine at a at a lower rate than coffee. But maybe some other dynamics playing in there. on tougher comps. And similarly, I guess beer was relatively weak. However, you have managed through it with your very strong CFD position.

Maybe you can just comment on how the categories look to you as you have already said some new contracts after twenty seven, 2028, but in 2026, do you expect continued low single digit growth? And maybe you can just provide some thoughts by category? Thanks.

Brandon Potthoff: Yes. I think your characterization of the categories are is right. I think the other thing that is needs to be impressed upon I think, the broader audiences. There are very aggressive innovations happening now. In a number of areas that would be a little bit more challenging to define, but health and wellness is certainly promoting I think there is protein going into everything these days. I think that market is untapped, but we connected to a lot of folks that we think are going to win disproportionately moving forward and they are going to be in cans. But the non out fifty two weeks it is grown 4.8% alcohol has declined at 2.5%.

We have plans to help everyone win in their categories, in their preferred brand, There is a lot of can innovation happening. So all of that is going to be required to help all of our customers win. And then there is a lot of disruption that is coming in terms of innovation that we are excited about. So folks that are beverage companies are going to figure it out. And that is where we have also been repositioning some of our portfolio to make sure that we are we are winning disproportionately on favored mix and winning with the winners. 26% is what is your question? 26% for us is very, very tight.

And we have bridged higher growth into the contract construction and 27 and beyond to make sure that we can stand up facility in the Northwest in Oregon. And so we will grow in line with what we believe the market at least the low end of the market. And then we will see fundamental step change where we will outpace the market in 2027, 2028 and beyond potentially.

Arun Shankar Viswanathan: Great. Thanks for that. So I guess what I am hearing is the main issues that, you are you are contemplating are just, around complexity and maybe execution and would there be any issues on metal supply that we should consider, maybe whether it is logistics and getting metal in the right places or imports or supply chain or have you already addressed those as well? Thanks.

Brandon Potthoff: Yes. Overwhelmingly, we have addressed those. There was There was some media coverage on one of our suppliers that I believe supplies 8% of the can sheet in the North American market. They are overwhelming automotive supply base. So that was something that was managed very effectively. Yes, we continue to not have enough aluminum in The U.S. Processed aluminum, aluminum can sheet, but that is something we have been dealing with for multiple years now two thirty two has not presented much more in terms of supply chain challenges. And then we have both Novelis and SDI that is going to be standing at the new facility here in the next few years.

So medium, long term, we are in great shape. Short term, we are all navigating kind of disillusionment of naphtha supply chain. But we are the team is doing a great job and we may have to do some things on our footprint to navigate much more efficiently, but you are talking about low capital throws and just optimizing what is in front of you. We do that all the time, but this one would be directly connected to the tariff scenarios.

Dan Fisher: For metal, we feel pretty good though where we are.

Arun Shankar Viswanathan: Great. Thanks. And apologies if I missed this, you call out any special cash items for next year I know CapEx you addressed, but is there anything on work working capital or cash tax or minority interest or anything else that would drag cash flow or any thoughts on what your conversion from EBITDA or net income would be? Thanks.

Dan Fisher: We really have nothing to report right now at this time. But I think the trends continue into next year for the most part.

Arun Shankar Viswanathan: Thanks.

Operator: Thank you. Our final question comes from the line of Joshua Spector with UBS. Please proceed with your question.

Joshua Spector: Yes. Hi, guys. Good morning. Just first a quick follow-up. Just on the Novelis outage and the aluminum supply. That have any impact on you guys in 3Q or 4Q volumes or cost expectations?

Brandon Potthoff: No, it

Joshua Spector: That is clear enough. So Secondly, just wanted to ask more broadly on consumer elasticities here as you are thinking about inflation for carbonated soft drinks and beer. You have any latest view around kind of what the sensitivity would be when consumers start to see the impact of higher prices next year? Or potentially the risk of

Brandon Potthoff: Yes. I am actually more encouraged than I think the press the press clippings are. Just from this stand Pete, we have been talking about a weekend consumer for three years. I mean, it has been grocery baskets have been getting smaller for three years. So this is nothing new. To what we have been dealing with and what our customers have been dealing with. And if you look at the most recent and now what is different and I think this is why I am encouraged. When you look at what people are saying they are going to spend their money on, they are going to spend their money on food and beverages. They are not going to travel.

They are not going to buy large capital spend. It is all geared toward the things that we make. So the concentration, the efforting and the dollars that we are spent in people's budgets and in their mental framework is going to us whereas the last two to three years we were still competing with vacations and other things. That is not what we are competing with now. So I think that would signal to you that the pricing has clicked into a place where they have to focus on putting food on the table. Above everything else and that is usually a good spot for us.

Joshua Spector: Great. Thank you very much.

Brandon Potthoff: Thank you.

Operator: I want to thank everybody for the questions today, and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Look forward to reporting back out full year numbers and a deeper dive into 'twenty six here in short order. Thank you.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation and have a wonderful day.