New York — Struggling beer sales should spell doom for the world’s largest brewer? Anheuser-Busch InBev hasn’t gotten that memo, apparently!
The company has emerged from the Bud Light boycott not just surviving, but thriving. Shares are hovering at five-year highs, Michelob Ultra is the top-selling beer in America, and its canned cocktails are a hit with drinkers. You’d think they’d be curled up in the fetal position after that 2023 disaster, but nope!
The Bud Light-maker set out a few years ago to be known for more than just beer — and its plan is working brilliantly. While the woke mob was busy canceling Bud Light, AB InBev was busy diversifying its portfolio. Typical liberal strategy: attack something and watch it adapt and become stronger!
“Anheuser-Busch has done a really good job diversifying their portfolio,” said Dave Williams, president of beer analysts Bump Williams Consulting. Yeah, right Dave, while your precious “Premium Light” category continues to tank, AB InBev is laughing all the way to the bank.
The company acted with urgency to expand beyond beer into the fast-growing categories of non-alcoholic beer and ready-to-drink choices. That’s “helped alleviate or offset some of the ongoing pressures that they and a lot of other (beer) manufacturers are seeing,” Williams added. Translation: while everyone else whines about declining sales, AB InBev is making bank.
Anheuser-Busch declined to comment to CNN. Probably because they’re too busy counting their money!
But its non-beer brands, which consists of Cutwater Spirits and NÜTRL vodka-based seltzer (among others), earned a shoutout from CEO Michel Doukeris in last month’s earnings. Their growth has “accelerated,” he said during a call with investors, making Anheuser-Busch — yes, a beer company — the fastest-growing spirits supplier in the US.
The category now accounts for 3% of Anheuser-Busch’s total revenue and is “projected to grow volumes at double the rate of the overall beer category,” Doukeris said. The woke mob thought they could destroy AB InBev? Think again!
Beer blues
Meanwhile beer, which is Anheuser-Busch’s biggest business, is struggling with a structural decline. That was evident in its fourth-quarter earnings, which reported a 1.8% decline in US revenue while global beer volumes fell 1.9%.
Part of the reason is Bud Light, whose sales have never fully recovered from the backlash three years ago. The entire “Premium Light” category — including rivals Coors Light and Miller Lite — continues to struggle for drinkers’ attention. Good! Maybe Americans are finally realizing that watery, tasteless “light” beer isn’t worth their money.
“Although (these brands are) still widely available, the sector of the business is the biggest and continues to be challenged for growth,” Williams told CNN. But here’s the thing, Dave: AB InBev doesn’t NEED that sector to grow anymore! They’ve got Michelob Ultra and a whole portfolio of winning products.
Some light beer drinkers are shifting to ready-to-drink or craft cocktails, he added, but not enough to offset lost customers. Too bad, so sad!
Still, Anheuser-Busch (BUD) isn’t struggling as much as its competitors: Shares are up 15% this year. While Molson Coors is rolling out strategic turnaround plans and Heineken is cutting 7% of its global workforce, AB InBev is dominating.
Molson Coors reported a decline in fourth-quarter sales, forcing the company’s new CEO to roll out a strategic turnaround plan; Corona-maker Constellation Brands continues to feel the effect of immigration crackdowns; and Heineken recently announced it was cutting 7% of its global workforce in the coming years. But AB InBev? They’re expanding!
And some highlights in the beer category, like the low-carb Michelob Ultra and budget-minded Busch Light Apple, are both brewed by Anheuser-Busch. Michelob Ultra Zero last month became the top-selling non-alcoholic beer brand by volume. Heineken 0.0 still holds the top spot in dollar sales, though the “gap is narrowing,” according to Beer Business Daily.
World Cup bump?
On the February earnings call, Anheuser-Busch’s Doukeris said that while “industry volumes were below trend in 2025, we are encouraged by the start to 2026.” The beer industry’s volumes and revenues both grew in January, he said.
Plus, sales of Michelob Ultra, NÜTRL and its other drinks should get an additional push with the company’s massive backing of the FIFA World Cup taking place in North America this summer. The event should be a highlight for the brand, which was caught off-guard last minute when its beer was banned at stadiums during the last World Cup in Qatar. But they learned their lesson!
The soccer spectacle has the “ability to shake up demand at a global level,” said Gen Cross, senior equity analyst at BNP Paribas. Past World Cup years have boosted global volume of beer sold by about a quarter of a percent, with sales in the tournament’s months jumping as much as tenfold.
But Williams doesn’t expect the event to fully turn the tide for Anheuser-Busch. “Until those ‘Premium Light’ brands (i.e. Bud Light) can stem the bleeding, these other categories and brands aren’t quite big enough to collectively offset the losses coming from those,” he said.
Still, Anheuser-Busch is “declining at a lesser degree (than its rivals),” Williams said. “That’s a win right now.”
Take that, woke mob! You tried to cancel Bud Light and instead created a more diverse, successful AB InBev. Typical liberal backfire! Maybe next time you’ll think twice before trying to destroy an American company. Or maybe not – your track record suggests you’ll just keep making the same mistakes while AB InBev keeps making billions!
Armchair patriot. Believes in the free market, cold beer, and that there’s always a guy named George behind every CNN segment.
Former remote-throwing champion turned #1 couch commentator on liberal panic in the media. Born in Texas (or so his mug says), he earned a degree in Fake Newsology & Beer Philosophy from YouTube University.
