BUD - Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV
73.22 -0.04 (-0.05%)
After hours: 4:26PM EST
| Previous Close | 73.60 |
| Open | 73.53 |
| Bid | 73.32 x 900 |
| Ask | 73.25 x 800 |
| Day's Range | 72.71 - 73.78 |
| 52 Week Range | 72.71 - 102.70 |
| Volume | 1,004,359 |
| Avg. Volume | 987,285 |
| Market Cap | 143.587B |
| Beta (5Y Monthly) | 0.84 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 15.53 |
| EPS (TTM) | 4.72 |
| Earnings Date | N/A |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | 2.01 (2.73%) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | Nov 18, 2019 |
| 1y Target Est | 97.60 |
- MarketWatch
Budweiser brewer AB InBev downgraded by JP Morgan over hard seltzer competition and coronavirus
Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev has been downgraded by JP Morgan over intensifying competition from hard seltzer in the U.S. and the impact of the coronavirus.
- Benzinga
JPMorgan Downgrades Budweiser Parent Company Ahead Of 'Challenging' 2020
Budweiser's parent company is at a "turning point" as it looks to generate volume growth at a time when it is no longer willing to increase prices in line with inflation, Pannuti wrote in the note. The company is also facing a combination of new or intensifying competition in many of its most profitable markets, most notably Latin America.
- MarketWatch
Molson Coors is jumping into the hard seltzer category with Vizzy launch in March
Hard seltzers had a big year in 2019 and Molson Coors Beverage Co. is looking to capitalize with the launch of Vizzy in March. Vizzy will be the first hard seltzer made with acerola cherry, according to Gavin Hattersley, chief executive of Molson Coors (TAP) , who spoke on the fourth-quarter earnings call on Thursday. Acerola cherry is high in vitamin C.
- Barrons.com
Tesla Stock Just Had the Ride of Its Life. Why Bitcoin Could Be Next.
Bitcoin has tiptoed back above $10,000, from $4,000 a year ago, and I have two questions. Last spring, I wrote that conditions are perfect for a flight to nonsense, with growth scarce and the Federal Reserve again cutting interest rates, and that Bitcoin would be the bellwether. U.S. stock indexes have shot higher since then, which I wouldn’t call a bubble or meltup just yet.
- Barrons.com
America Will Double Its Hard-Seltzer Guzzling This Year
A new report from (CSGN) predicts hard seltzer sales will double this year and reach 8% to 10% of beer sales by 2023. Hard seltzer, for the unfamiliar, is carbonated water with added alcohol, typically given fruit flavoring. Manufacturers can fine-tune the alcohol level and, thus, calories and carbohydrates, making the drinks popular with the beer-belly-adverse.
- Yahoo Finance
Why the coronavirus could hurt Budweiser beer
One Wall Street strategist lays out why Budweiser could be hurt from the coronavirus.
- PR Newswire
Natural Light Is Renting Diplomas To Kick Off Annual College Debt Relief Program
Natural Light is back for the third consecutive year with $1,000,000 to help fans with college debt as part of their ten year, $10,000,000 commitment to the Natural Light College Debt Relief Program.
- American City Business Journals
Here's why Columbus plays a key role in Anheuser-Busch's low-alcohol strategy
Anheuser-Busch wants to drive sales by dropping alcohol, a move that means more work for Columbus. The megabrewer has set a company-wide goal of devoting 20% of its production volume to non-alcoholic and low-ABV products (3.5% or below) by 2025. Anheuser-Busch’s Columbus brewery is a key piece in the strategy since it is one of just two breweries in the company’s U.S. network that makes non-alcoholic beer.
- InvestorPlace
Relatively Speaking, Kraft Heinz Q4 2019 Earnings Should Be Good
This time last year, Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) reported fourth-quarter results that will live in infamy. It's not often that a Warren Buffett investment delivers an $11 a share impairment charge in a single quarter, but that's what happened on Feb. 21, 2019. As a result, Kraft Heinz stock dropped 27% in a single day of trading. Source: Casimiro PT / Shutterstock.com It has been a rocky road for Kraft Heinz shareholders ever since. On Feb. 13, the company reports its fourth-quarter results, and while they're not expected to be anything to write home about, compared to last year's carnage, they will be relatively good. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips * 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy That Could Beat the Coronavirus The question for investors at this point is simple: Where to next?Before I get to that, let's get some of the critical numbers out of the way. Earnings Expectations for Q4According to Yahoo Finance, Kraft Heinz is expected to announce revenue of $6.6 billion and earnings of 68 cents in the fourth quarter. This would suggest a decline of 4.2% and 19%, respectively, from a year earlier. Ouch. However, as I said, there shouldn't be any surprises like there were last year. Not only did the company take a $15.4 billion impairment charge in Q4 2019, the seventh-largest impairment charge since 2009, it also announced an SEC probe that led to a $25 million accounting correction. "Quite unusually, the impairment was triggered by short term developments in the second part of 2018, as opposed to a routine impairment evaluation," wrote research firm Audit Analytics after last year's debacle. As long as the words "impairment charge" don't make their way into the quarterly press release, it should be fine.Not only that, but the company has managed to deliver positive earnings surprises in the last two quarters -- 30% in Q3 2019 and 4% in Q2 2019 -- so it's more than possible that it will do it again on Feb. 13.Ah, the silver lining. Where to for Kraft Heinz Stock?The current target price, according to The Wall Street Journal, is $31.05 with a high of $37 and a low of $23. Based on the average, we're looking at 7.5% upside over the next 12 months. That's not very encouraging if you're Warren Buffett. The Motley Fool's Keith Noonan did an excellent job in November, pointing out how much Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A, NYSE:BRK.B) has made to date on its 26.8% stake in the company. Berkshire paid about $30 a share for its stake. As I write this, it's trading around $29, so the holding company is down $325 million on the stock price since 2015, but up more than $3.5 billion on the dividends. As Noonan said, Berkshire's gains pale in comparison to the performance of the S&P 500 over the same period. It's for this reason Buffett has admitted that it paid too much for Kraft Heinz. In January, CEO Miguel Patricio revealed the company's strategy for extricating itself from the hole it's dug. "My role is to simplify this business. Fewer, bigger bets," Patricio told the Journal. "If you try to innovate in 56 different categories every year, you can't execute on all of them. We need to be more selective."It also needs to meet the needs of consumers hankering for healthier food choices. Kraft Dinner is not on most people's list of healthful eating.However, the fact that it hired Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) executive Carlos Abrams-Rivera to run its U.S. business does not give me a warm, fuzzy feeling. Campbell's is not exactly known for being an innovation machine. And while I'm sure Abrams-Rivera is a perfectly good executive, it smacks of "more of the same."In November, I pointed out that Kraft Heinz Chairman Alex Behring, one of 3G Capital's founding partners, approached Patricio about the job early in 2019. The fact that Patricio hired Flavio Torres as Kraft Heinz's head of global operations -- Torres is a former colleague of Patricio's at Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD) -- suggests to me that the 3G cronyism continues despite the talk of innovation and simplification at the company. The Bottom LineI'm not sure at what price I would recommend KHC stock. I certainly wouldn't buy it in the $30s. At least not until the CEO proves that his strategy is more than Business School 101. That said, I don't think there's anything that we'll see from Kraft Heinz's quarterly report that will further damage its stock price. I guess we'll find out soon enough if that's the case.At the time of this writing Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 Utility Stocks to Buy That Offer Juicy Dividends * 10 Gold and Silver Stocks to Profit Off 2020's Fear Trade * 3 Top Companies That Should Be More Careful With Your Data The post Relatively Speaking, Kraft Heinz Q4 2019 Earnings Should Be Good appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Zacks
Hard Seltzer Demand Sets the Stage for Alcohol Industry Growth
Hard Seltzer Demand Sets the Stage for Alcohol Industry Growth
- Yahoo Finance
Toyota, AB InBev, Funko: Companies to Watch
Toyota, AB InBev and Funko are the companies to watch
- Reuters
AB InBev gets relief against New Delhi sales ban
A tribunal in New Delhi has put on hold a sales ban imposed last year on Anheuser-Busch InBev, an order seen by Reuters showed, allowing the world's largest brewer to resume sales of its beer products in the city for now. Authorities in New Delhi barred AB InBev in July from selling its beer products for three years over allegations related to the evasion of state taxes, which the company had denied. The company's appeal against the ban was rejected in December by a judge of the Delhi High Court, who directed AB InBev to approach the city tribunal for further relief.
- Bloomberg
Beer Drinkers Want More Than a Typical Lager These Days
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Megabrew is saying goodbye to one of its mega-champions.Anheuser-Busch InBev SA said late Wednesday that long-standing finance director Felipe Dutra would step down in April. It’s the second big management change at the brewer in as many years. Chairman Olivier Goudet exited last year and was replaced by Martin Barrington, the former chief executive officer of tobacco company Altria Group Inc., one of AB InBev’s biggest shareholders.AB InBev did not comment on why Dutra was leaving. CEO Carlos Brito said the departure was “bittersweet.” Dutra felt now was the right time to embark on new projects, he said, adding that his contribution was hard to overstate.Dutra has spent almost 30 years with the owner of the Budweiser, Leffe and Jupiler brands, so it’s not overly surprising he’s moving on. He has been one of the architects, alongside Brito, of AB InBev’s transformation from a Brazilian beer maker to the world’s biggest brewer. That includes the 2016 acquisition of SAB Miller, which saddled the company with more than $100 billion of net debt.AB InBev should seize the opportunity created by the transition to augment its cost-cutting prowess with a greater emphasis on sales growth. That’s as necessary as continuing to whittle away its borrowing burden.Since the creation of this megabrewer, AB InBev has been grappling with the high leverage as well as a lackluster performance, from a combination of continuing beer volume declines in the U.S., where premium and craft beers are all the rage, and difficult conditions in key emerging markets, including Brazil. Dutra has managed the debt as well as he could, with borrowings having an average maturity of 14 years, and 91% on fixed terms. He also halved the dividend in October 2018, raised gross proceeds of $5.75 billion from a listing of the company’s Asia Pacific unit last year and another $11.3 billion from selling the Australian arm.Consequently, Duncan Fox of Bloomberg Intelligence estimates net debt at the end of 2019 was at just over $90 billion, and expects it to fall to about $75 billion at the end of 2020. That’s clearly an improvement, and may be another reason for Dutra to depart now while things are looking better. But it remains high. Even at the later date, borrowings would still be about 3.3 times Ebitda, well above AB InBev’s long-term goal of two times.To really bring down leverage, AB InBev needs to lift profit, which is hardly forecast to move in 2019 and 2020, according to the Bloomberg consensus of analysts’ estimates.That begs for efforts not only to control costs, which Dutra excelled at, but to boost sales growth, especially from elevating the amount of beer sold, not just raising prices. This is particularly necessary in the North American beer market, which accounts for about 30% of sales and profit, where volumes must be stabilized.Indeed, the change of finance director needs to usher in a new era at AB InBev, where it achieves a better balance between its legendary cost management and spending to turbocharge its brands including the flagship Budweiser, faster-growing Michelob Ultra and its selection of carbonated alcoholic beverages known as hard seltzers. AB InBev appears to know this. Brito says new finance director Fernando Tennenbaum’s role will be to support top-line growth through both financial management and investment as well as continuing to bring down debt.The change of guard may signal further developments as well. First, large scale M&A, already unlikely given the borrowing burden, is probably off the agenda for now, as the new finance director settles in. And while Brito’s succession may be some way off, given the two recent changes at the top, the appointment of Tennenbaum, as well as David Almeida as chief strategy and technology officer, appears to set the backdrop for this process.Still, if there is one more thing that Megabrew excels at, it’s unleashing a mega-surprise on investors. To contact the author of this story: Andrea Felsted at afelsted@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Melissa Pozsgay at mpozsgay@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Andrea Felsted is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the consumer and retail industries. She previously worked at the Financial Times.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters
AB InBev CFO Dutra to step down, Ambev's Tennenbaum to replace him
Tennenbaum will also join the executive committee of the company that makes Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois. Dutra, who was CFO for almost 15 years, will remain with the company during a transition period, the company said.
- American City Business Journals
What wine brands can learn from the rise of White Claw
The summer of White Claw may be over, but the product looks like it’s here to stay, and winemakers should be paying attention.
- Benzinga
Super Bowl Beer Consumption Down Overall: Michelob Sales Rise, Bud Light Falls
Beer and football remain a natural pairing, but not so much in 2020 compared to prior years, according to BeerBoard. Kansas City An Exception BeerBoard, a real-time data, insights and consumer engagement ...
- Zacks
How to Time the Markets Like an Investing Pro - February 04, 2020
Is the ability to time the markets more of a data-driven science or a 'gut - feeling' art?
- American City Business Journals
Chicago agency Highdive triumphs in USA Today Ad Meter rankings
Boutique ad shop Highdive scored a coup at the 2020 Super Bowl with its spot celebrating the Jeep Gladiator and the popular 1993 film "Groundhog Day."
- MarketWatch
Ellen for Amazon and famous Bostonians hailing Hyandai’s ‘smaht pahk’: 10 ads to watch for on Super Bowl Sunday
Most advertisers will offer escape from Trump’s impeachment and the upcoming presidential election by stuffing multiple celebrities in their ads, appropriating iconic songs and trying to tug at people’s heartstrings.
- American City Business Journals
Alex Rodriguez to tout his Presidente beer in Super Bowl ad
Former New York Yankee star Alex Rodriguez will tout his Presidente beer in an ad that will air in New York during Sunday's Super Bowl game. Rodriguez became a co-owner and chairman of Presidente USA last week. Founded in 1935 in the Dominican Republic, Presidente Beer was acquired by Anheuser-Busch Inbev (NYSE: BUD) in 2012.
