Budweiser beer cans displayed for sale in a supermarket.
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Shares of AB InBev plunged as much as 11% Thursday after the world’s largest brewer posted a worse-than-feared decline in second-quarter volumes, even as revenues and profits surged ahead.
The Budweiser maker said volumes declined 1.9% year-on-year over the three-month period, well ahead of the 0.3% dip forecast by analysts on the back of weaker demand for its beer products.
Shares had pared down their losses and were last seen down 9.1% at 10:27 a.m. London time (5:27 a.m. ET).
The drop was led by China, where volumes were down 7.4% and where the company said it was “underperforming the industry.” The weakness was also driven by Brazil, where AB InBev cited high comparisons and adverse weather as prompting a 6.5% decline in the second quarter.
Despite the volume falls, quarterly operating profit jumped 6.5% year-on-year, well above the 5.7% that analysts expected, as consumers have coughed up more cash for beers. It comes off the back of a bumper profit jump in the first quarter.
Revenues rose 3% on an organic basis to $15 billion, as sales picked up in the U.S. — one of its core markets — following a first-quarter drop.
AB InBev CEO Michel Doukeris said the results pointed to the “resilience of the beer category” and the continued momentum of the company’s “megabrands,” which also include Stella Artois and Corona.
Analysts nevertheless said the size of the volumes miss was likely to weigh on the stock, which was up around 19% year-to-date as of the market close Wednesday.
“The scale of the volume miss in China and Brazil, as well as the weaker than expected performance in Middle Americas and EMEA is likely to overshadow another strong quarter of EBITDA growth, UBS analysts wrote in a note Thursday.
It comes as divergence has emerged within the drinks sector, with brewers expected to emerge as a relative winner from U.S. tariffs, given their localized production — compared with wines and spirits, which rely on provenance.
Wines and spirit producers are now hoping for a tariff carve-out under the EU and U.S.’s framework trade deal. A decision on that is expected in the coming weeks, with the broad 15% rate expected to apply to EU exports to the U.S. in the interim, according to Reuters. CNBC has reached out to the European Commission for comment.
The beer industry, meanwhile, is facing 50% tariffs on aluminum, which are expected to drive up the cost of beer cans produced in the U.S. AB InBev said in May that 98% of its cans are produced locally.
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