Ball Corp.'s stock plummeted 6.32% during intraday trading on Tuesday, a sharp reversal from its pre-market gains. The decline occurred despite the aluminum packaging leader reporting first-quarter results that exceeded Wall Street expectations for both revenue and earnings.

The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.94 for the quarter ended March 31, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $0.85. Revenue rose 16.3% year-over-year to $3.60 billion, also surpassing the expected $3.36 billion. Following the report, shares had initially risen 2.2% in pre-market activity.

However, investor sentiment turned negative as details emerged about rising input costs and slowing growth. Ball Corp.'s cost of sales jumped nearly 19% to $2.96 billion in the quarter, driven by higher aluminum prices linked to the Middle East conflict and U.S. import tariffs. Furthermore, global aluminum packaging shipments increased by only 0.8%, a significant slowdown from the 2.6% growth seen in the previous year, raising concerns about demand momentum.

The company maintained its full-year outlook, expecting comparable diluted EPS growth of over 10% and free cash flow above $900 million. It also reiterated its plan to return at least $800 million to shareholders through buybacks and dividends by year-end. Despite these positive guidance points, the market's focus remained on the margin pressures from escalating aluminum costs, leading to the substantial intraday sell-off.