Bud Light's decline is benefiting one of its biggest rivals.
Molson Coors, brewer of Miller Light and Coors Light beers, reported Tuesday its single best quarter of revenue since its 2005 merger, as drinkers continue to shift their allegiance away from the Anheuser Busch-made beer.
In a release, Molson Coors said that combined US sales of its two flagship beers outsold Bud Light by 50% in the second quarter and were 30% higher than Modelo Especial, which overtook Bud Light sales in May and June. That's a drastic change from the same quarter a year ago, when Bud Light sales were higher than Coors Light and Miller Light sales combined.
Net income for the second quarter grew to $342 million, up from $47 million in the same period a year earlier. Sales also rose 11.8% to $3.3 billion, but that came in slightly below analysts' expectations, resulting in shares sliding more than 2% in premarket trading.
Molson Coors also hiked its full-year guidance to "reflect the continued strength we are seeing in our core brands in the US."
Changes in the beer industry
Beer sales have been completely upended following Bud Light's decision to send a customized can to a transgender influencer, which sparked transphobic backlash and alienated the company's core customer base. But A-B's lack of response to the hate also drew criticism from some members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies.
Since then, sales of Bud Light have been consistently falling by more than 20% every week (compared to the same week prior) since April. In May, the seemingly unthinkable happened: Modelo Especial displaced Bud Light from its top-selling spot in the United States for the first time, ending a roughly two-decade run for Bud Light. The trend continued in June.
Modelo's parent company, Constellation Brands, also recently reported strong earnings. Its beer business, which also includes Corona, posted an 11% increase in sales for the first quarter.
Last week, A-B announced layoffs across its US corporate staff, amounting to just under 2% of its employee count. The beer giant is set to announce earnings — which will fully cover the Bud Light sales slide — on Thursday.
