Three Beverage Stocks That May Quench a Portfolio’s Thirst
This week, we use AAII’s A+ Investor Stock Grades to provide insight into three beverage stocks. With consumers increasingly indulging in beverages, should you consider the three beverage stocks of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (BUD), Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (CCU) and Molson Coors Beverage Co. (TAP)?
Beverage Stocks Recent News
The global beverage industry, encompassing both alcoholic and nonalcoholic segments, continues to experience robust growth. Functional drinks — such as those with added vitamins or probiotics — are seeing a surge in demand as people prioritize wellness and immunity. Flavor innovation is a growth driver for the market due to a consumer preference for premixed beverages with a high-quality taste. In parallel, alcoholic beverages are also evolving: Low- and no-alcohol variants are gaining traction, as well as premium and craft options. Plant-based alternatives and natural ingredients are further shaping innovation across both categories.
According to an Allied Market Research report, the global nonalcoholic beverages market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.9% from 2024 to 2035, driven by health-conscious consumer trends, innovative product development and effective marketing strategies. Meanwhile, analysts at Renub Research expect the global alcoholic beverages market to expand at a CAGR of 5.0% from 2025 to 2033, supported by trends favoring premium products and increased demand in emerging markets. Given these projections, companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Compañía Cervecerías and Molson Coors could be worth examining.
Grading Beverage Stocks With AAII’s A+ Stock Grades
When analyzing a company, it is helpful to have an objective framework that allows you to compare companies in the same way. This is why AAII created the A+ Stock Grades, which evaluate companies across five factors that research and real-world investment results indicate to identify market-beating stocks in the long run: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions (and surprises) and quality.
Using AAII’s A+ Stock Grades, the following table summarizes the attractiveness of three beverage stocks — Anheuser-Busch, Compañía Cervecerías and Molson Coors — based on their fundamentals.
AAII’s A+ Stock Grade Summary for Three Beverage Stocks
What the A+ Stock Grades Reveal
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (BUD) is the world’s largest brewer, headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, with major operational hubs across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa. The company operates over 170 breweries and facilities worldwide, including large-scale operations in the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, China and South Africa. Its portfolio of more than 500 brands ranges from global names to local and craft offerings, allowing it to meet diverse consumer preferences. Anheuser-Busch focuses on operational efficiency through advanced supply chain systems, digital sales platforms and smart logistics, while also prioritizing sustainability through water conservation, renewable energy and circular packaging initiatives across its global footprint.
Anheuser-Busch has a Momentum Grade of A, based on its Momentum Score of 86. This means that the stock’s momentum is very strong in terms of its weighted relative price strength over the last four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters, with the most recent quarterly price change given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters given a weight of 20%. The ranks are 94, 16, 67 and 44, sequentially from the most recent quarter. The weighted four-quarter relative price strength is 10.9%.
A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades from 1998 through 2019.
The A+ Quality Grade is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals to assets, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the valid remaining measures. To be assigned a Quality Score, though, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.
Anheuser-Busch has a Quality Grade of A, based on a score of 90, which is very strong. The company ranks strongly in terms of its return on invested capital and F-Score. Its return on invested capital of 106.3% ranks in the 95th percentile among all U.S.-listed stocks, and its F-Score of 7 ranks in the 83rd percentile. The F-Score is a number between 0 and 9 that assesses the strength of a company’s financial position. It considers the profitability, leverage, liquidity and operating efficiency of a company. Anheuser-Busch also has a buyback yield of 0.6%, which is above the sector median of –0.1% and ranks in the 72nd percentile.
The components of the Growth Composite Score consider a company’s success in growing sales on a year-over-year and long-term annualized basis and its ability to consistently generate positive cash from its core operations. The company’s Growth Grade is B, which is strong. Anheuser-Busch has generated positive annual cash from operations in the past five consecutive years and has a five-year annualized sales growth rate of 2.7%.
Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (CCU) is a Chilean food and beverage company founded in 1902 and headquartered in Santiago. It operates across Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Peru, producing a diverse range of products including beer, soft drinks, wine, spirits and food items. Compañía Cervecerías owns several production facilities in Chile, such as in Quilicura and Temuco, with a total annual production capacity of 1.35 billion liters. The company also operates breweries in Argentina, including Cervecería Santa Fe and plants in Salta and Luján, as well as a malting facility in La Calera. Compañía Cervecerías’ product portfolio includes both owned and licensed brands, with partnerships involving companies like Heineken N.V. (HEINY), Anheuser-Busch and PepsiCo Inc. (PEP). The company is also recognized for its commitment to sustainability, having been ranked among the top 100 most responsible companies in Chile for five consecutive years.
The company has a Value Grade of A, based on its Value Score of 84, which is deep value. The Value Grade is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, price-earnings (P/E) ratio, price-to-book-value (P/B) ratio, price-to-free-cash-flow (P/FCF) ratio, shareholder yield and the ratio of enterprise value to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).
The company has a shareholder yield of 14.6%, ranking in the 3rd percentile among all U.S.-listed stocks. Its price-earnings ratio of 35.1 ranks in the 78th percentile. The enterprise-value-to-EBITDA ratio is 10.0, ranking in the 38th percentile.
Earnings estimate revisions indicate how analysts view a firm’s short-term prospects. Compañía Cervecerías has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade of C, based on a score of 53, which is neutral. The grade is based on the statistical significance of its latest two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.
Compañía Cervecerías reported a positive earnings surprise of 124.0% for the fourth quarter of 2024, and in the prior quarter reported a positive earnings surprise of 0.6%. Over the last month, the consensus earnings estimate for the first quarter of 2025 has remained unchanged at $0.30 per share. Over the last month, the consensus earnings estimate for full-year 2025 has decreased from $0.849 to $0.810 per share.
Compañía Cervecerías has a Growth Grade of A, which is very strong. The company ranks in the 100th percentile for its five-year annualized sales growth rate of 3.8%.
Molson Coors Beverage Co. (TAP) is a global brewing and beverage company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The company operates 16 brewing facilities across North America, including major sites in Golden, Colorado; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Montreal, Quebec. These facilities produce a diverse portfolio of brands such as Coors Light, Miller Lite, Blue Moon and Leinenkugel’s, along with newer offerings like Vizzy and Coors Seltzer. In response to growing demand for hard seltzers, Molson Coors has significantly expanded production capacity at its Fort Worth, Texas, and Milwaukee breweries, increasing output by over 400% to meet consumer preferences for low-calorie, flavored beverages. The company is also investing in sustainability initiatives, focusing on water conservation, renewable energy and circular packaging to reduce its environmental footprint.
Molson Coors has a Quality Grade of A, with a score of 86, which is very strong. The company ranks strongly in terms of its buyback yield and its return on invested capital. Its buyback yield of 4.5% ranks in the 89th percentile among all U.S.-listed stocks, and its return on invested capital of 40.8% ranks in the 83rd percentile. Molson Coors has a return on assets of 4.3%, above the sector median of 3.7%, and an F-Score of 7.
Molson Coors has a Value Grade of A, based on a score of 86, which is deep value. The company ranks in the 10th percentile for its shareholder yield and in the 34th percentile for its enterprise-value-to-EBITDA ratio. The company has a shareholder yield of 7.8% and an enterprise-value-to-EBITDA ratio of 9.3. A lower price-earnings ratio is considered better value, and Molson Coors’ price-earnings ratio of 10.7 is below the sector median of 21.5.
The company has a Momentum Grade of C, based on its Momentum Score of 54. This means that the stock’s momentum is average in terms of its weighted relative price strength over the last four quarters. The ranks are 75, 49, 64 and 19, sequentially from the most recent quarter. The weighted four-quarter relative price strength is –0.3%.
