Molson Coors expressed its anticipation of sustaining its market share gains in the upcoming year. The brewery, known for Coors Light and Miller Lite, announced robust fourth-quarter earnings, with a 9.3% growth in net sales for 2023. These gains were largely attributed to consumers shifting away from AB InBev’s Bud Light products following boycotts that began last April.
In its earnings release, Molson Coors acknowledged being well-positioned to benefit from significant shifts in consumer purchasing habits, without explicitly referencing the boycotts. This marked a return to profitability for the company, reporting a net income of $103.3 million, or 48 cents a share, for the quarter compared to a loss of $590.5 million, or $2.73 a share, in the same period the previous year.
Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley expressed confidence in the company’s strategy to maintain leadership in the beer category during the fourth-quarter earnings call. He highlighted consistent gains in core brands over nine months and emphasized growth in every region, channel, and major customer in the United States, believing that shifts in the U.S. beer industry are permanent.
Despite investing nearly 19% more in marketing and administrative costs in the fourth quarter to achieve these gains, some analysts on the earnings call remained skeptical about the sustainability of Molson’s gains from the Bud Light boycott. The stock experienced a nearly 3% decline on Tuesday, but TD Cowen analyst Robert Moskow believes the company will retain the majority of the share acquired from the boycotts. Ariel Investments, a shareholder since 2018, remains confident in Molson Coors’ performance, noting that core brands were already growing dollar share before the Bud Light controversy.
