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Anheuser-Busch InBev’s stock surged early Thursday after the company beat earnings estimates for the second quarter, even as North American numbers were hit by the conservative-led boycott of Bud Light.
The stock move
BUD,
also sparked buying in the company’s bonds, with early sellers turning into buyers, as the following chart from data-as-a-service provider BondCliQ Media Services shows.
Anheuser-Busch InBev net customer flows (intraday).
Source: BondCliQ Media Services
By midmorning, the trend had continued with greater buying and rising volume.
Anheuser-Busch InBev net customer flow (intraday). Source: BondCliQ Media Services
The next chart shows how the most-active bonds have performed over the last 10 days, with buying concentrated in the 5.55% notes that mature in 2049.
Most-active Anheuser-Busch InBev issues with net customer flow (last 10 days).
Source: BondCliQ Media Services
AB InBev’s stock was up more than 2% early Thursday, after the company posted better-than-expected second-quarter adjusted per-share earnings of 72 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 68 cents. Revenue rose to $15.12 billion from $14.793 billion, but lagged the consensus of $15.376 billion.
As expected, U.S. sales to retailers fell 14%, underperforming the industry, as Bud Light volumes were hit by a boycott sparked by a marketing campaign involving a transgender influencer.
Overall volumes fell 1.4% to match expectations.
As bad as it was, the pressure on Bud Light was not the main cause of an overall drop in profit, as MarketWatch’s Steve Goldstein explained.
Two-thirds of the profit drop was due to market-share performance and the remainder to productivity loss, increased sales and marketing investments and support measures for its wholesalers, the company said.
The main culprit was derivatives: The company recorded a $1.08 billion mark-to-market loss on hedges for its share-based payment programs and shares issued in relation to the combination with Grupo Modelo and SAB.
Related: Boston Beer’s stock rallies as Twisted Tea makes up for flat seltzer demand in second quarter
