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Beer powerhouse Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD) reported results in line with analysts' expectations in Q2 CY2024, with revenue up 1.4% year on year to $15.33 billion. It made a non-GAAP profit of $0.90 per share, improving from its profit of $0.72 per share in the same quarter last year.
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Anheuser-Busch (BUD) Q2 CY2024 Highlights:
- Revenue: $15.33 billion vs analyst estimates of $15.32 billion (small beat)
- Adj. EBITDA: $5.30 billion vs analyst estimates of $5.21 billion (1.8% beat)
- EPS (non-GAAP): $0.90 vs analyst estimates of $0.84 (7.2% beat)
- Gross Margin (GAAP): 55.9%, up from 53.6% in the same quarter last year
- Organic Revenue rose 2.7% year on year (7.2% in the same quarter last year)
- Sales Volumes were flat year on year, in line with the same quarter last year
- Market Capitalization: $111.6 billion
Beverages and AlcoholThese companies' performance is influenced by brand strength, marketing strategies, and shifts in consumer preferences. Changing consumption patterns are particularly relevant and can be seen in the explosion of alcoholic craft beer drinks or the steady decline of non-alcoholic sugary sodas. Companies that spend on innovation to meet consumers where they are with regards to trends can reap huge demand benefits while those who ignore trends can see stagnant volumes. Finally, with the advent of the social media, the cost of starting a brand from scratch is much lower, meaning that new entrants can chip away at the market shares of established players.
Sales GrowthAnheuser-Busch is one of the most widely recognized consumer staples companies in the world. Its influence over consumers gives it extremely high negotiating leverage with distributors, enabling it to pick and choose where it sells its products (a luxury many don't have).
As you can see below, the company's annualized revenue growth rate of 5.2% over the last three years was sluggish as the number of units it sold was more or less the same each year. We'll explore what this means in the "Volume Growth" section.
This quarter, Anheuser-Busch grew its revenue by 1.4% year on year, and its $15.33 billion in revenue was in line with Wall Street's estimates.
Volume GrowthRevenue growth can be broken down into changes in price and volume (the number of units sold). While both are important, volume is the lifeblood of a successful staples business as there’s a ceiling to what consumers will pay for everyday goods; they can always trade down to non-branded products if the branded versions are too expensive.
To analyze whether Anheuser-Busch generated its growth from changes in price or volume, we can compare its volume growth to its organic revenue growth, which excludes non-fundamental impacts on company financials like mergers and currency fluctuations.
Over the last two years, Anheuser-Busch's quarterly sales volumes have, on average, stayed about the same. This stability is normal as the quantity demanded for consumer staples products typically doesn't see much volatility. The company's flat volumes also indicate its average organic revenue growth of 7.4% was generated from price increases.
In Anheuser-Busch's Q2 2024, year on year sales volumes were flat. This result was a well-appreciated turnaround from the 1.4% year-on-year decline it posted 12 months ago, showing the company is heading in the right direction.
Key Takeaways from Anheuser-Busch's Q2 Results It was encouraging to see Anheuser-Busch slightly top analysts' EBITDA and EPS expectations this quarter. Zooming out, we think this was a decent quarter, showing the company is staying on target. The stock traded up 1% to $60.12 immediately after reporting.
