USA: Boston Beer’s Q4 earnings miss analysts’ forecasts

Boston Beer delivered an earnings miss for its fourth quarter alongside disappointing full-year guidance as performance of its hard seltzer brand fizzled.

The company posted a loss of 93 cents a diluted share and a net loss of $11.4 million for its fourth-quarter, while Wall Street had expected earnings of 60 cents and income of $11.1 million, according to FactSet.

Fourth Quarter 2022 Summary:

• Depletions increased 3%. Depletions decreased 3% on a 13-week comparable basis
• Shipments increased 16.7%. Shipments increased 10.9% on 13-week comparable basis
• Net revenue of $447.5 million increased 28.6%
• Gross margin of 37.0%
• Net loss of $11.4 million
• GAAP diluted loss per share of $0.93

Full Year 2022 Summary:

• Depletions decreased 5%. Depletions decreased 6% on a 52-week comparable basis
• Shipments decreased 3.8%. Shipments decreased 4.6% on a 52-week comparable basis
• Net revenue of $2.090 billion increased 1.6%
• Gross margin of 41.2%
• Net income of $67.3 million
• GAAP diluted earnings per share of $5.44, which includes a non-cash impairment charge of $1.61 per share recorded in the third quarter of 2022

Capital Structure

• Ended the fiscal year with $180.6 million in cash and no debt
• Repurchased $8.9 million in shares from January 3, 2023 to February 10, 2023

"We were pleased to deliver shipments slightly ahead of our guidance, and are also encouraged by the improvement in our depletions trends as the fourth quarter unfolded." said Chairman and Founder Jim Koch. "We continue to believe building a diversified Beyond Beer portfolio is the right strategy to deliver long-term balanced growth and value creation. Although near-term trends remain challenging because of the hard seltzer category's trajectory, we have strong brands across multiple segments, the top salesforce in beer and a highly cash generative business with a strong balance sheet."

"Revenue growth was strong in the fourth quarter; however, margins came in below our expectations largely due to our production mix and supply chain inefficiencies," said President and CEO Dave Burwick. "Twisted Tea continues to experience industry-leading double-digit growth, while hard seltzer remains in decline. We have new initiatives in place to improve Truly share trends and adapt our cost structure to the current volume environment, which we believe will lead to long-term success."

17 February, 2023