Bud Light’s recent troubles should worsen in the summer, to the benefit of its competition’s brands, enough to turn Roth MKM analyst Bill Kirk bullish on the stocks of Constellation Brands Inc. and Boston Beer Co. Inc.
Kirk raised on Tuesday his rating on Modelo, Corona, Pacifico beer parent Constellation Brands to buy, after being at neutral since January 2021, while boosting his stock price target to $270 from $216. Constellation Brands’ stock STZ rose 1.3% in premarket trading Tuesday, while Anheuser-Busch shares BUD slumped 2.4% toward a six-month low.
“With temperatures warming and substitutability with Bud Light increasing, recent weeks have seen 13 [percentage points] of outperformance,” Kirk wrote. “This trend should continue as Bud Light [declines/peak] over summer holidays.”