ACCO Brands Q3 2025 slides: sales decline continues, cost savings bolster margins

ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE:ACCO) reported its third-quarter 2025 results on October 31, showing continued sales pressure across segments while highlighting progress in its cost reduction initiatives and strategic partnerships. Despite missing analyst expectations, the company maintained its full-year outlook.

Quarterly Performance Highlights

ACCO Brands reported Q3 2025 net sales of $383.7 million, down 8.8% compared to the same period last year, missing analyst expectations of $391.07 million. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.21, slightly below the forecasted $0.22, representing an 8.7% year-over-year decline.

Despite the revenue challenges, the company managed to improve its gross margin by 50 basis points to 33.0%, while reducing SG&A expenses by 5.2% year-over-year to $87.4 million.

The following slide summarizes the company’s financial performance for the quarter:

Breaking down performance by segment, ACCO Brands Americas reported sales of $227.6 million, down 12.2% year-over-year, while ACCO Brands International saw sales decline by 3.5% to $156.1 million. Despite the sales decrease, the Americas segment improved its adjusted operating margin by 20 basis points to 14.4%.

The segment breakdown reveals the geographical impact of current market conditions:

Strategic Initiatives

A key focus for ACCO Brands has been its multi-year cost reduction program, which targets at least $100 million in savings. The company reported achieving over $50 million in savings since the program’s inception, including $10 million in Q3 2025 alone through reduced headcount, discretionary spending cuts, and footprint rationalization.

The cost reduction efforts are detailed in the following slide:

ACCO Brands also highlighted its strategic partnership with Nintendo, announcing that its PowerA brand was selected as one of the few officially licensed third-party partners for the Nintendo Switch 2 launch. PowerA was first to market with licensed wireless controllers in late October 2025, with exclusive character IP controllers expected to be the only licensed wireless offerings available through the end of 2025.

The following slide showcases the PowerA product line and partnership:

The company continues to diversify its product portfolio with new offerings across multiple categories. Recent launches include ergonomic products from Leitz, the West Village collection by Mead, and Buro Seating solutions.

Financial Analysis

ACCO Brands’ capital structure remains a focus area, with the company reporting total gross debt of $878 million as of September 30, 2025, with a weighted average interest rate of 4.41%. The debt is split 66/34 between fixed and variable rates.

The company’s capital structure is detailed in the following slide:

The company has made consistent progress in reducing its net debt over the past five years, bringing it down from $1,072 million in September 2021 to $795.3 million as of September 30, 2025.

In terms of cash flow, ACCO Brands reported adjusted free cash flow of $3 million for Q3 2025, with year-to-date adjusted free cash flow of $42 million. The company paid $20 million in dividends during this period and generated $17 million from asset sales.

The following slide provides a snapshot of the company’s diverse brand portfolio and key statistics:

Forward-Looking Statements

Despite the Q3 challenges, ACCO Brands reaffirmed its full-year 2025 outlook, projecting reported net sales of $1,525 to $1,550 million, representing a decline of 7.0% to 8.5% compared to 2024. The company expects adjusted earnings per share between $0.83 and $0.90, with adjusted free cash flow of approximately $90 to $100 million.

The company’s full-year outlook is presented in the following slide:

Management expressed confidence in improved sales trends for Q4, citing the PowerA partnership with Nintendo as a growth driver. The company also noted that it gained market share during the North American back-to-school season despite tariff-related impacts.

ACCO Brands is actively managing tariff challenges through a "China plus one" approach that enables quick shifts to global supply partners. The company emphasized that 60% of its sales are outside the U.S. and not impacted by U.S. tariffs, though China remains a strategic sourcing partner.

The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share on October 24, 2025, continuing its commitment to shareholder returns despite the challenging environment.

Despite the earnings miss, ACCO Brands’ stock remained stable, closing at $3.91 on the day of the earnings release, though this represents a significant discount to its 52-week high of $6.44.

Full presentation:

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