USA: 40% of Bud Light drinkers willing to return, AB InBev CEO says

Bud Light’s April collaboration with a transgender influencer is still affecting sales, Anheuser-Busch InBev leadership told investors during their most recent earnings call, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on November 6.

But a $1 billion stock buyback and new UFC sponsorship deal is boosting the company’s outlook overall, they said.

AB InBev announced the buyback program last week, which will take place within the next 12 months. Fernando Tennenbaum, CFO, said this will begin “almost immediately.”

During its third quarter, AB InBev global revenue increased 5% to $15.6 billion, though U.S. revenue declined more than 13% as a result of continued lower Bud Light sales, said CEO Michel Doukeris. He said he is confident that the company is bouncing back.

“I don’t think that we are at a new normal yet, but we have a good grip on what we need to do and how we are proceeding from here,” he said last week.

Doukeris said a recent survey found that over 40% of lost Bud Light drinkers said they are ready and now more open to returning to drinking Bud Light.

Bud Light saw a significant drop in sales this year as consumers called for a boycott of the brand following a collaboration with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Over the summer, Modelo Especial overtook Bud Light to become America’s bestselling beer, knocking Bud Light off its throne for the first time in over two decades.

Doukeris pointed to Bud Light’s recently announced a multiyear sponsorship of the UFC, a mixed martial arts organization. He said AB InBev is committed to investing in the U.S. for the long term and called the partnership a great fit for Bud Light.

“We are committed to continue to invest in Bud Light and all the platforms that consumers love,” Doukeris said.

AB InBev is seeing customers return to brands like Busch Light and Michelob Ultra, Doukeris said and they expect these beers, in addition to Bud Light, to recover their trajectory before April.

However, according to Dave “Bump” Williams of Bump Williams Consulting, which specializes in the alcoholic beverage industry, the story for Bud Light has not changed in either direction since April.

Williams said that trends remain roughly the same, with no notable improvements on a week to week basis.

“Consumers seem to be continuing with their newfound behaviors in the post-fallout months,” he said. “I personally think that it will be very difficult to recover all of their lost Bud Light drinkers both before April, and even after. A subset of those are gone for good.”

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