Krones AG (KRN) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: €3.58B
• Dividend Yield: 1.95%
• Average Volume (3M): 29.29K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 14.4
• Beta (1Y): 1.25
• Revenue Growth: 8.15%
• EPS Growth: 16.17%
• Country: DE
• Employees: 20,583
• Sector: Industrials
• Sector Strength: 72
• Industry: Industrial - Machinery
• EPS (TTM): 2.69
• Shares Outstanding: 31,593,073
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 23,974
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 29,287
• PEG Ratio: 1.85
• Price to Book (P/B): 0.00
• Price to Sales (P/S): 0.76
• P/FCF Ratio: 0.00
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: N/A
• 1Y Price Target: €153.83
• Price Target Upside: 35.89% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Moderate Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 7
• EPS Forecast (FY): 10.49
• Revenue Forecast (FY): €5.86B

• Rating: 70 Outperform
• Price Target: €125.00 ▲(10.42% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 03/23/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 03/23/26

The score is driven primarily by solid financial performance (growth, improved profitability, low leverage, and positive free cash flow), partially tempered by data-quality gaps in the latest period and past cash-flow volatility. Technicals are a significant drag due to a clear downtrend and negative momentum, while valuation is supportive with a moderate P/E and reasonable yield.

Positive Factors

Integrated capital equipment & systems

Krones’ end-to-end offering (filling, labeling, packaging, conveying, automation) creates a structural strength: customers buying lines tend to prefer single-vendor integration, shortening sales cycles for complex projects and raising switching costs. That durability supports steady project pipeline and long-term competitive positioning.

Recurring aftermarket and digital revenue

A sizable installed base and recurring services (maintenance, parts, consumables, subscriptions) provide high-quality, repeatable revenue and margin diversification versus one-off equipment sales. This stabilizes cash flows and margin mix over multi-year cycles and supports long-term free cash generation.

Conservative balance sheet and equity growth

Low leverage and rising equity indicate financial conservatism, granting flexibility to fund capex, R&D, or weather demand troughs without forcing dilutive financing. Healthy ROE history (~10–14%) alongside low debt supports sustainable investment capacity and resilience through industry cycles.

Negative Factors

Cyclical, project-driven end market

Revenue and profit are materially exposed to beverage and liquid-food producers’ capex cycles. Large project timing and customer capacity decisions can cause revenue bunching and margin swings, creating structural volatility in near-to-medium term top-line and backlog visibility.

Historic cash-flow volatility

Intermittent negative free cash flow (notably 2023) despite positive profits indicates working-capital swings or lumpy project payments. That pattern can strain liquidity in downturns, complicate capital allocation, and requires management vigilance to convert accounting profits into dependable cash over cycles.

Limited visibility from 2025 data gaps

Key 2025 margin and ratio fields are zeroed or missing, weakening confidence in recent profitability and leverage assessment. This reduces clarity on sustainability of improved margins and cash conversion, complicating medium-term forecasting and risk assessment until full, consistent disclosures arrive.

Krones AG Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Krones AG, together with its subsidiaries, plans, develops, and manufactures machines and lines for the production, filling, and packaging technology in Germany and internationally. It operates in two segments, Machines and Lines for Product Filling and Decoration, and Machines and Lines for Beverage Production/Process Technology. The company provides process technology systems for use in beer, craft beer, juice, milk, soft drink, water, and spirit; Steinecker phoebus membrane filters; systems for ozonisation of water; bottle design; stretch blow molders; bottle washing machines; filling technology systems; inspection technology systems; labelers; conveyors; product treatment systems; packaging technology systems; palletizing technology systems; block technology systems; and recycling systems. It also offers solutions for intralogistics, material flow technology, or warehousing for the beverage and food sector; and IT solutions. It serves breweries; beverage producers; and companies from the food, chemical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Krones AG was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Neutraubling, Germany.

How the Company Makes Money

Krones primarily makes money by selling capital equipment and integrated line solutions to beverage and liquid-food producers. A major revenue stream comes from engineering and delivering turnkey or modular systems (e.g., filling/closing, labeling, packaging, conveying/material flow, and line integration), where customers pay for the machines, installation, and commissioning as part of project-based orders. In addition to new equipment, Krones generates recurring revenue through lifecycle services across the installed base, including maintenance and repair, technical support, retrofits/modernization, inspections, and the supply of spare and wear parts. The company also earns revenue from consumables and operating materials used in packaging operations (such as labeling and packaging-related materials) and from digital/software offerings that support line operation, monitoring, and optimization, typically sold as licenses, subscriptions, or service contracts depending on the product. Earnings are influenced by the size and utilization of the installed base, customer investment cycles in beverage/liquid-food capacity, and the mix between higher-margin services/parts versus one-time equipment projects.

Krones AG Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Strong multi-year revenue growth and improved profitability versus 2020, supported by low leverage and generally solid free cash flow. Offsetting factors include 2023 cash-flow volatility and missing/zeroed 2025 margin/ratio fields that reduce confidence in the latest trend read-through.

Income Statement

Revenue has expanded strongly since 2020 (from ~€3.36B to ~€5.66B in 2025), with solid growth in 2021–2024 and a much larger jump reported for 2025. Profitability has also improved materially versus the 2020 loss year, with 2024 net margin around 5.2% and 2025 around 5.3% (net income ~€299M). A key watch-out is data consistency in 2025 margins (several margin fields are shown as 0.0 despite positive profit), which reduces confidence in year-to-year margin trend interpretation for the latest period.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet appears conservatively financed: debt is low relative to equity (about 7–8% in 2021–2024), and equity has steadily grown (from ~€1.20B in 2020 to ~€2.13B in 2025). Returns on equity were healthy in 2021–2024 (roughly ~10% to ~14%), indicating improved profitability on a strengthening capital base. The main weakness is limited visibility in 2025 ratio fields (debt-to-equity and return on equity shown as 0.0), which constrains assessment of the most recent leverage and efficiency trend.

Cash Flow

Cash generation is generally strong, with operating cash flow robust in 2022, 2024, and 2025 (roughly €0.45–€0.48B recently) and free cash flow positive and improving in 2024–2025 (about €271M to €329M). However, cash flow has shown volatility—most notably 2023, when free cash flow turned negative despite positive earnings—suggesting working-capital or investment swings. Some coverage and conversion metrics are missing/zeroed in 2025, limiting a clean read on latest cash conversion quality.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	5.66B	5.29B	4.72B	4.25B	3.69B
Gross Profit	1.13B	2.72B	845.77M	2.14B	1.86B
EBITDA	530.64M	564.79M	469.53M	384.54M	320.41M
Net Income	299.20M	276.92M	224.51M	187.03M	141.37M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	5.04B	4.75B	4.48B	4.17B	3.49B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	549.49M	442.48M	448.36M	674.50M	383.37M
Total Debt	148.84M	136.62M	139.74M	110.93M	102.52M
Total Liabilities	2.91B	2.83B	2.76B	2.57B	2.10B
Stockholders Equity	2.13B	1.92B	1.72B	1.60B	1.39B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	328.90M	271.03M	-25.04M	360.54M	200.84M
Operating Cash Flow	459.14M	452.17M	137.62M	478.70M	305.73M
Investing Cash Flow	-211.41M	-338.99M	-238.91M	-107.75M	-102.48M
Financing Cash Flow	-128.11M	-115.00M	-94.10M	-79.79M	-60.89M

Krones AG Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Negative
• Last Price: 113.20
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Negative
• 200DMA: Negative
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Positive
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For DE:KRN, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 113.2 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 125.13, below the 50-day MA of 133.44, and below the 200-day MA of 131.94, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -4.78 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 24.68 is Positive, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 22.72 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for DE:KRN.

Krones AG Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
KSB3	77 Outperform	€2.08B	6.65	10.90%	2.84%	4.20%	-20.71%
KSB	76 Outperform	€2.08B	6.74	0.33%	2.76%	4.20%	-20.71%
G1A	71 Outperform	€9.63B	22.78	17.25%	2.01%	2.26%	6.49%
KRN	70 Outperform	€3.58B	14.37	14.99%	1.95%	8.15%	16.17%
Sector *	63 Neutral	$10.79B	15.43	7.44%	2.01%	2.89%	-14.66%
DEZ	62 Neutral	€1.37B	26.76	4.42%	2.03%	9.79%	-31.93%
DUE	54 Neutral	€1.25B	7.70	-7.86%	3.12%	-18.21%	-137.62%