Bud Light owner Anheuser-Busch tops Wall St estimates as sales RISE despite Dylan Mulvaney backlash

Earnings at Bud Light owner Anheuser-Busch have risen more than expected, despite backlash over the brand’s partnership with Dylan Mulvaney.

The Belgium-based company, which also makes Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona, saw its core profit rise 13.6 percent year-over-year to $4.76 billion in the first quarter.

This was compared to an expected average increase of 5.6 percent.

Sales at Anheuser-Busch InBev, which produces about a quarter of all beer consumed globally, were also up 0.4 percent – supported by a sharp increase in China following a rollback of strict Covid-19 restrictions.

It comes despite Bud Light sales dropping by more than a quarter year over year following the brand’s controversial campaign featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Bud Light parent company Anheuser-Busch reported higher-than-expected first-quarter earnings

A beer industry expert has said Bud Light could lose its status as the country’s top-selling beer if sales of the product continue to fall

Anheuser-Busch is the world’s largest brewer and also makes beer from Michelob Ultra, Hoegaarden and Presidente – meaning that overall profits are rarely influenced by any one product.

Year over year, the company’s core profit is up 13.6 percent from $4.49 billion in the first quarter of 2022.

This rose steadily over the year, before falling slightly in the last quarter of 2022.

The company reiterated its forecast for 2023 that core earnings would grow in line with its medium-term outlook of between 4 and 8 percent.

Anheuser-Busch said the results confirmed the beer market’s resilience in the face of economic challenges, particularly inflation, with consumers purchasing its beers despite higher prices.

Turnover rose sharply as the company implemented price increases and some consumers switched to more expensive beers or packaging formats.

The better-than-expected results for the company come despite falling Bud Light sales.

The brand launched its campaign with Mulvaney on April 1, sparking backlash.

A boycott was declared, singer Kid Rock used Bud Light cans for target practice, and $5 billion was wiped from the brand’s value.

Two senior marketing executives have taken leave amid the fiasco.

Bud Light’s out-of-store sales volume — that is, the amount of beer sold outside restaurants and bars — was down 26.1 percent from a year earlier in the week ending April 22.

Anheuser-Busch InBev saw its core profit rise 13.6 percent in the first quarter to $4.76 billion

According to Beer business daily reported that out-of-home beer sales volume — that is, the amount of beer sold outside restaurants and bars — was down 26.1 percent from a year earlier in the week ending April 22.

Sales fell 21.1 percent last week. While competitors, Coors Light and Miller Lite, saw consumers turn to their brands as both had an increase in sales.

So far this year, beer volumes are down 8 percent.

“Bud Light Blue’s shocking market share decline continued rapidly into the third week of April – and somehow even worsened,” the outlet wrote on its website.

“We’ve never seen such a dramatic shift in national share in such a short time.”

A beer industry expert has said Bud Light could lose its status as the country’s top-selling beer if sales of the product continue to fall.

“I think it’s at risk of losing that No. 1 ranking to Modelo Especial at the end of calendar year 2023,” said Bump Williams, the founder of Bump Williams Consulting, a firm that specializes in the alcoholic beverage industry.

According to Williams, $4.8 billion worth of Bud Light was sold in stores last year, making it the largest U.S. beer brand, followed by Modelo Especial at $3.75 billion and Michelob Ultra at $3.3 billion.