Anheuser-Busch InBev NV’s earnings beat analysts’ estimates as growth in key markets including Brazil and China offset a slump in the US, where Bud Light sales plunged after a marketing fiasco.
Earnings rose 5% to $4.91 billion in the second quarter on an adjusted basis, the maker of Budweiser and Stella Artois said Thursday. Analysts expected growth of 2.5%.
Profit gained more than 20% in key markets including Brazil, China and Colombia, offsetting a 28% plunge in the US. Global sales rose 7.2%, just ahead of estimates, and the company maintained its full-year profit outlook.
The world’s biggest brewer stepped into a culture-wars controversy after transgender social media personality Dylan Mulvaney featured in a Bud Light promotional video. Calls for a boycott from right-wing conservatives led the company to cut ties with Mulvaney, who was subjected to online threats and hate speech. That in turn led to a consumer backlash from supporters of the transgender influencer, leading to a drop in US sales volumes that some analysts said may be permanent.
AB InBev’s volumes fell by 1.4% globally with North America plunging 14%. The company’s US market share plummeted in April but has been stable between the last week of April through the end of June.
The brewer increased sales of its global brands Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona by 18% outside of their home markets in the second quarter.
The company put marketing executives involved in the Bud Light matter on leave and is cutting several hundred jobs in the US, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
AB InBev reiterated its forecast that earnings will probably rise 4% to 8%. Analysts are expecting a gain of 5.2%.
(Updates with earnings of key markets in third paragraph)
