Are Beer Stocks Tapped for Gains in 2013?

Latest News:

Anheuser-Busch InBev will introduce two beers this year with 6% alcoholic content – compared to the 5% average of its leading brands – after last year’s launch of higher-alcohol Bud Light Platinum went well. The key question from analysts over the strategy is whether the new beers – Beck’s Sapphire and Budweiser Black Crown – will steal store shelf space from rivals or cannibalize other A-B products?

State of the Industry:

Beer shipments in the U.S. rose around 1.9% in 2012 after falling in 2011. Though craft beer sales only account for 6% of the market by volume, the double-digit pace of growth from craft brewers easily outpaces major players A-B InBev, MillerCoors, Heineken, and Boston Beer Co. Latin America and China will be a focus in 2013 as will the ripple effect of the Grupo Modelo purchase by A-B InBev.

Beer stock performance (52-week return)

Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) +44.8%

Boston Beer (SAM) +36.5%

Diageo (DEO) +34.6%

Craft Brew Alliance +11.0%

SABMiller (SBMRY) +1.90%

Molson Coors (TAP) -4.91%

Yields on beer stocks

Molson Coors (TAP) +3.00%

Diageo (DEO) +2.39%

SABMiller (SBMRY) +1.90%

Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) 1.78%

Boston Beer (SAM) 0.00%

Craft Brew Alliance 0.00%

The leading brands of the major beer companies:

Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) – Budweiser family, Michelob, Busch, Rolling Rock, Natural

Boston Beer (SAM) – Samuel Adams: Boston Lager, Boston Ale, Black Lager, Irish Red.

Diageo (DEO) – Guinness, Red Stripe, Kilkenny, Tusker.

Craft Brew Alliance (BREW) – Redhook, Kona, Widmer Brothers, Omission

Molson Coors (TAP) – Coors Light, Blue Moon, Carling, Miller Lite, Miller High Life Molson, Keystone Light, Amstel Light, Killian’s Irish Red.

SABMiller (SBMRY) – Grolsch, Fosters, Carling Black Label, Icehouse, + Miller family under joint venture with Molson Coors

Via St Louis Post Dispatch, Seeking Alpha, Google Finance

The Buzz on Coffee, Beer, Soda, Smoothies, Energy Drinks, and H2O

What’s all the fuss about beverages? It goes back to the Irish proverb that reads good as drink is, it ends in thirst. Around and around it goes. So to keep tabs a bit, here’s the rundown:

Beer

Anheuser-Busch buys Grupo Modelo for the Corona brand, but is now too large with a market share north of 50% in the U.S. This means the company may have to divest the iconic Busch brand or Natural Light, which just doesn’t seem right. It also means SABMiller won’t be merging with A-B after all, but hey it’s still partners with Molson Coors which it gives it great-tasting Grolsch and Killian’s Irish Red and their 0.1% market share. Meanwhile, thousands of microbreweries bash each other into near oblivion with intense competition – despite having a clearly superior product. The big get bigger.

 

Coffee

Starbucks isn’t satisfied being a $40B company and is dabbling in nearly every form of beverage out there. For instance, today it launched a Very Berry Hibiscus refresher drink replete with blackberries and coffee. If it can be crushed and caffeine added, Starbucks will try it. Customers in Seattle, Atlanta, and Chicago are even the test guinea pigs to see if baristas selling beer and wine freaks out regulars. A company called Green Mountain Coffee Roasters claims to have reinvented the coffee industry with a single cup Keurig brewer system, but expiring patents and a 75% drop in its stock tips off they may be wrong. As for just a cup of joe, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts are making their mark with premium blends that defy their rep for junk food. Who knew?

 

Soda

Mayor Bloomberg got a little cranky about obesity in NYC and proposed banning large-sized drinks, creating quite a ruckus. While the movement to regulate soda intake is DOA on Main Street, it has generated interest on Wall Street. PepsiCo is getting into yogurt, Coca-Cola is promoting its Vitamin Water, and even Campbell Soup is going organic by buying Bolthouse Foods for its carrot juice. But it’s all a fad…32-ounce Mountain Dews won’t be upstaged by carrot juice any day soon.

 

Energy Drinks

Everybody wants an energy drink product now that the industry kicked up sales of over $30B. To that end, Coca-Cola might be buying Monster Beverage because the rest of the entries sound just plain toxic (Full Throttle, Sobe No Fear, Amp, Rip It) in a confusing industry. Juggernaut Red Bull probably will stay independent, although it’s a bit of a surprise to learn that its HQ is in Austria, not Las Vegas. And what exactly does 1000mg of Taurine do to the body anyway?

 

Smoothies

Who has the time to pull a blender and mash up a bunch of fruit and ice when you can buy a smoothie at every McDonald’s, Burger King, and Starbucks in town? Still if convenience isn’t an issue, pure-plays such as Smoothie King or Jamba Juice tend to be bit more on the authentically healthy side.

 

Water

Yes, water is pretty much the same. Tap or bottled, two parts Hydrogren and one part Oxygen does the trick.

Sources:

Starbucks.com
Bloomberg.com
Bevnet.com
Anheuser-Busch Inbev
Seeking Alpha

 

What’s Anheuser-Busch InBev up to?

Something interesting is brewing at Anheuser-Busch InBev, the question though is what exactly could it be? The global beer giant has filed trademark applications covering the codes of airports across the country, including LAX, DFW, and JFK to name a few. Earlier this year, the global brewer also filed for trademarks on area codes. Are beer names going to be much more succinct in the future?

Via Seeking Alpha and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office