Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV BUD, aka AB InBev, unveiled a $10 million investment to modernize its Jacksonville brewery. The company’s investment is in sync with long-term strategy to enhance operations while delivering high-quality, great-tasting products for years to come. In the past five years, AB InBev has invested nearly $2 billion in its U.S. facilities, reinforcing its commitment to job creation and community prosperity nationwide.
Key Insights of the Jacksonville Investment
AB InBev's $10 million investment in its Jacksonville brewery aims to drive innovation and enhance operational excellence. The initiative includes upgrading facilities to ensure adherence to top-tier quality standards and improve efficiency. It also involves modernizing critical manufacturing equipment for beer production and enhancing the plant’s core infrastructure to support long-term operations.
The Jacksonville brewery has been a pivotal part of AB InBev’s U.S. operations since 1969. This facility has significantly contributed to the company’s $490 million capital investments in Florida over the years, showcasing its role as a vital economic driver in the region.
Employing nearly 1,000 people across four facilities in the state and supporting a national workforce of 65,000 across 120 facilities, AB InBev has positioned itself as America’s leading brewer.
The Jacksonville brewery's involvement in the $490 million Florida capital investment program highlights AB InBev’s continued dedication to regional operations. However, with BUD’s market capitalization surpassing $106 billion, this localized $10 million investment is routine operational spending rather than a transformative capital allocation. This could help protect profit margins in the short term, but it is unlikely to significantly affect the company’s overall performance in the long run.
What’s More?
AB InBev has been gaining from continued consumer demand for its brand portfolio. The company’s pricing actions, continued premiumization and other revenue-management initiatives have been aiding its revenues. BUD has been focused on expanding its Beyond Beer portfolio, which has also been aiding the top line. Notably, the portfolio contributed $365 million to total revenues in the third quarter.
AB InBev has been keen on making investments in its portfolio over the years, as well as rapidly growing its digital platform, including BEES and Zé Delivery. Its digital transformation initiatives have been on track, with B2B digital platforms contributing about 72% to its revenues in the third quarter. The company noted that the monthly active user base of BEES reached 3.9 million users. Its omnichannel, direct-to-consumer ecosystem of digital and physical products generated $350 million in revenues.
However, BUD continues to face significant headwinds due to unfavorable changes in taxes. In many regions, these taxes constitute a major chunk of the cost of beer that is charged to customers. Thus, any rise in excise taxes or indirect taxes on AB InBev’s products is likely to shift consumers’ preferences to other beverages and weigh upon the overall consumption of the company’s products, thus hurting its revenues and margins.
Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have lost 13.5% in the past three months compared with the industry’s decline of 8.2%.
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Despite the dynamic operating environment in some markets, the company’s strong global presence, diverse brand portfolio and commitment to disciplined resource allocation allow it to invest for the long term while achieving efficient and profitable growth.
Three Stocks Showing Potential
We highlighted some better-ranked stocks from the broader Consumer Staples space, namely Ingredion INGR, Freshpet, Inc. FRPT and Vita Coco Company COCO.
Ingredion is a solutions provider specializing in nature-based sweeteners, starches and nutrition ingredients. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). INGR has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 9.5%, on average. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ingredion’s current financial-year EPS indicates growth of 12.5% from the year-ago reported numbers.
Freshpet, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distributes and markets natural fresh meals and treats for dogs and cats. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). FRPT delivered an earnings surprise of 144.5% in the last reported quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Freshpet’s current fiscal year’s sales and earnings implies growth of 27.3% and 224.3%, respectively, from the year-ago reported numbers.
Vita Coco develops, markets and distributes coconut water products under the Vita Coco brand name in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia Pacific. The company currently has a Zacks Rank of 2. COCO has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 17.6%, on average.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for COCO’s current financial-year sales and earnings suggests growth of 3.5% and 29.7%, respectively, from the year-ago reported figures.
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