XML 41 R23.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.25.4
Employee Benefit Plans
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2025
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Employee Benefit Plans Employee Benefit Plans
The Company provides substantially all U.S. employees and employees at certain foreign subsidiaries with retirement benefits including defined benefit pension plans and defined contribution plans. The Company also provides certain eligible U.S. employees who retire under qualifying conditions with subsidized postretirement health care coverage or Health Care Reimbursement Accounts.

Defined contribution plans

The Company maintains 401(k) plans covering substantially all U.S. employees. The Company contributes cash to the plans to match qualifying employee contributions, and also provides a non-matching employer contribution of 1% of pay to eligible participants. Under an employee stock ownership component of the 401(k) plans, employees may choose to invest in the Company’s stock as part of their own investment elections. Assets of the Company’s 401(k) plans consist primarily of listed common stocks and pooled funds. 

Defined contribution plan expenses for U.S. and Canadian employees were $63 million, $76 million, $73 million for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively.

The Company’s 401(k) plans held 5 million shares of Company common stock at December 31, 2025, with a market value of $301 million. Cash dividends received on shares of Company common stock by these plans during the year ended December 31, 2025 were $11 million.

Defined benefit plans

The following table sets forth the components of pension benefits expense for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023 (in millions).
 Pension Benefits
Year Ended December 31
202520242023
Defined benefit plans:
Service cost (1)
$48 $46 $41 
Interest cost (1)
82 79 76 
Expected return on plan assets(83)(89)(83)
Settlement charges(3)— 
Amortization of actuarial loss5 
Amortization of prior service (credit)
(19)(20)(20)
Net periodic defined benefit plan expense30 23 17 
Net actuarial (gain) loss
$(46)$(38)$46 
Prior service cost
19 26 19 
Total pre-tax comprehensive loss (income)
$(27)$(12)$65 

(1) Service and interest costs are recorded within Cost of products sold and Selling, general, and administrative expenses, in the Consolidated Statements of Earnings, based on the functional responsibilities of employees.
The following tables set forth changes in the defined benefit obligation and the fair value of defined benefit plan assets for the Company's pension benefits for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 (in millions).
 Pension Benefits
December 31
2025
December 31
2024
Change in defined benefit obligations:
Benefit obligation, beginning$1,673 $1,765 
Service cost48 46 
Interest cost82 79 
Actuarial (gain)
(25)(111)
Employee contributions4 
Benefits paid(70)(62)
Plan amendments 
Foreign currency effects and Other
44 (54)
Benefit obligation, ending$1,756 $1,673 
Change in defined plan assets
Fair value of plan assets, beginning$1,351 $1,415 
Actual return on plan assets105 
Employer contributions69 26 
Employee contributions4 
Benefits paid(70)(62)
Foreign currency effects and Other16 (39)
Fair value of plan assets, ending$1,475 $1,351 
Funded status$(281)$(322)
Amounts recognized in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
Other assets (non-current)
$78 $68 
Accrued expenses and other payables
(20)(19)
Other long-term liabilities
(339)(371)
Net liabilities recognized in the Consolidated Balance Sheets$(281)$(322)

The projected benefit obligation, accumulated benefit obligation, and fair value of plan assets for the pension plans with projected benefit obligations in excess of plan assets were $1.5 billion, $1.4 billion, and $1.1 billion, respectively, as of December 31, 2025, and $1.4 billion, $1.4 billion, and $1.0 billion, respectively, as of December 31, 2024. 

Other Postretirement benefits

The Company recorded $8 million of postretirement benefits expenses for each of the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023. The benefit obligation for the postretirement benefits plans totaled $99 million and $102 million as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

Supplemental information

The Company uses the corridor approach when amortizing actuarial losses. Under the corridor approach, net unrecognized actuarial losses in excess of 10% of the greater of the projected benefit obligation or the market related value of plan assets are amortized over future periods. For plans with little to no active participants, the amortization period is the remaining average life expectancy of the participants. For plans with active participants, the amortization period is the remaining average service period of the active participants. The amortization periods range from 5 to 27 years for the Company’s defined benefit pension plans and from 5 to 18 years for the Company’s postretirement benefit plans.
Included in AOCI for pension benefits at December 31, 2025, are the following amounts that have not yet been recognized in net periodic pension cost: unrecognized prior service credit of $10 million and unrecognized actuarial loss of $188 million.

Included in AOCI for postretirement benefits at December 31, 2025, are the following amounts that have not yet been recognized in net periodic postretirement benefit cost: unrecognized prior service cost of $1 million and unrecognized actuarial loss of $18 million. 

Future Contributions and Expected Benefit Payments

Based on actuarial calculations, the Company expects to contribute $30 million to the pension plans and $12 million to the postretirement benefit plans during 2026. The Company may elect to make additional discretionary contributions during this period.

The following benefit payments, which reflect expected future service, are expected to be paid by the benefit plans (in millions):
 
Pension
Benefits
2026$90 
202795 
2028101 
2029109 
2030115 
2031-2035652 

Significant assumptions

The following table sets forth the principal assumptions used in developing net periodic benefit cost:
 Pension Benefits
December 31
2025
December 31
2024
Discount rate for service cost4.7%4.5%
Expected return on plan assets6.1%6.0%
Rate of compensation increase4.8%4.8%
Interest crediting rate4.6%4.0%

The following table sets forth the principal assumptions used in developing the year-end actuarial present value of the projected benefit obligations:

 Pension Benefits
December 31
2025
December 31
2024
Discount rate5.1 %5.0 %
Rate of compensation increase4.6 %4.8 %
Interest crediting rate4.7 %4.6 %
For postretirement benefit measurement purposes, a 8.4% annual rate of increase in the per capita cost of covered health care benefits was assumed for the year ended December 31, 2025. The rate was assumed to decrease gradually to 4.5% by 2035 and remain at that level thereafter.

Plan Assets

The Company’s employee benefit plan assets are principally comprised of the following types of investments:

Common Stock:
Equity securities are valued based on quoted exchange prices and are classified within Level 1 of the valuation hierarchy.

Mutual Funds:
Mutual funds are valued at the closing price reported on the active market on which they are traded and are classified within Level 1 of the valuation hierarchy.

Common Collective Trust (CCT) Funds:
The investments in CCTs are comprised of U.S. and international equity, fixed income, and other securities, including certain equity index funds. These investments are generally valued at the net asset value (NAV) provided by the administrators of the funds. To the extent a CCT’s NAV is determined and published daily and is the basis for current transactions, the investment is measured at fair value and classified within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. Other CCTs, whose NAV is not considered a readily determinable fair value, are measured using the NAV practical expedient and are therefore not included within the fair value hierarchy.

Corporate Debt Instruments:
Corporate debt instruments are valued using third-party pricing services and are classified within Level 2 of the valuation hierarchy.

U.S. Treasury Instruments:
U.S. Treasury instruments are valued at the closing price reported on the active market on which they are traded and are classified within Level 1 of the valuation hierarchy.

U.S. Government Agency, State, and Local Government Bonds:
U.S. government agency obligations and state and municipal debt securities are valued using third-party pricing services and are classified within Level 2 of the valuation hierarchy. 

The methods described above may produce a fair value calculation that may not be indicative of net realizable value or reflective of future fair values. Furthermore, while the Company believes its valuation methods are appropriate and consistent with other market participants’ methods, the use of different methodologies or assumptions to determine the fair value of certain financial instruments could result in a different fair value measurement at the reporting date.

The following tables set forth, by level within the fair value hierarchy, the fair value of plan assets as of December 31, 2025 and 2024 (in millions).
 Fair Value Measurements at December 31, 2025
Level 1Level 2Level 3Total
Common stock$37 $ $ $37 
Common collective trusts / Mutual funds162   162 
Corporate bonds 550  550 
U.S. Treasury instruments152   152 
U.S. government agency, state and local government bonds 5  5 
Other38 19  57 
Total assets$389 $574 $ $963 
Common collective trust funds at NAV
U.S. equity56 
International equity81 
Fixed income327 
Other48 
Total assets at fair value$1,475 

 Fair Value Measurements at December 31, 2024
Level 1Level 2Level 3Total
Common stock$36 $— $— $36 
Common collective trusts / Mutual funds154 — — 154 
Corporate bonds— 517 — 517 
U.S. Treasury instruments161 — — 161 
U.S. government agency, state and local government bonds— — 
Other13 18 — 31 
Total assets$364 $539 $— $903 
Common collective trust funds at NAV
U.S. equity30 
International equity67 
Fixed income298 
Other53 
Total assets at fair value$1,351 

There are no Plan assets classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy; therefore there are no gains or losses associated with Level 3 assets.
The following table sets forth the actual asset allocation for the Company’s global pension plan assets as of the measurement date.

December 31 2025(1)(2)
December 31
2024(2)
Equity securities23%21%
Debt securities66%68%
Other11%11%
Total100%100%

(1)The Company’s U.S. pension plans contain approximately 68% of the Company’s global pension plan assets. The actual asset allocation for the Company’s U.S. pension plans as of the measurement date consists of 24% equity securities, 70% debt securities, and 6% other. The target asset allocation for the Company’s U.S. pension plans is approximately the same as the actual asset allocation. The actual asset allocation for the Company’s foreign pension plans as of the measurement date consists of 20% equity securities, 59% debt securities, and 21% other. The target asset allocation for the Company’s foreign pension plans is approximately the same as the actual asset allocation.

(2)The Company’s pension plans did not directly hold any shares of Company common stock as of the December 31, 2025 and 2024 measurement dates. 

Investment objectives for the Company’s plan assets are to:

Optimize the long-term return on plan assets in consideration of funded status risk.
Maintain a broad diversification of assets and appropriate risk exposure across asset classes.
Maintain careful control of the risk level within each asset class.

Asset allocation targets promote optimal expected return and volatility characteristics given the long-term time horizon for fulfilling the obligations of the pension plans. Selection of the targeted asset allocation for plan assets was based upon a review of the expected return and risk characteristics of each asset class, as well as the correlation of returns among asset classes. The U.S. pension plans target asset allocation is also based on an asset and liability study that is updated periodically.

Investment guidelines are established with each investment manager. These guidelines provide the parameters within which the investment managers agree to operate, including criteria that determine eligible and ineligible securities, diversification requirements, and credit quality standards, where applicable. In some countries, derivatives may be used to gain market exposure in an efficient and timely manner; however, derivatives may not be used to leverage the portfolio beyond the market value of underlying investments.

The Company uses external consultants to assist in monitoring the investment strategy and asset mix for the Company’s plan assets. To develop the Company’s expected long-term rate of return assumption on plan assets, the Company generally uses long-term historical return information for the targeted asset mix identified in asset and liability studies. Adjustments are made to the expected long-term rate of return assumption when deemed necessary based upon revised expectations of future investment performance of the overall investment markets.