Mechanism of molding sand compaction by squeezing was theoretically investigated. The state of stress in the mold during squeezing was interpreted based on the theory of plasticity, assuming that the compacting molding sand mass is in a state of plastic equilibrium. The plastic analysis used in soil mechanics is demonstrated to apply to the compaction of molding sand, and the distribution of stress in the mold was calculated numerically. The calculated results show fair quantitative agreement with the experimental results.