Emerging Middle Class And Premium Trends Will Expand Beverage Markets

Key Takeaways

• Growth in emerging markets, premiumization, and no
• and low-alcohol innovation are supporting long-term revenue expansion and increased market share.
  
• Digital transformation and operational efficiencies are improving margins, cash flow, and flexibility for shareholder returns and reinvestment.
  
• Shifting consumer preferences, weak emerging market demand, and high leverage constrain growth, threaten profitability, and create long-term risks for AB InBev's financial and market outlook.

Catalysts

Produces, distributes, exports, markets, and sells beer in North America, Middle Americas, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific.

• AB InBev is leveraging the growing consumption power of the global middle class, especially in emerging markets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where demographic shifts and urbanization are expanding the addressable market for premium and mainstream beer-a catalyst expected to drive long-term revenue growth as volume potential recovers from short-term setbacks in markets like Brazil and China.
  
• The ongoing trend towards premiumization-consumers trading up to higher-end products and showing increased willingness to pay for craft, specialty, and premium brands-is contributing to higher revenue per hectoliter and improving margins, as demonstrated by strong growth of megabrands such as Corona and Michelob Ultra and sustained investment in premium and super-premium portfolios.
  
• Expansion into no
• and low-alcohol segments and beyond-beer categories (RTDs, hard seltzers) has delivered robust performance (e.g., 33% global revenue growth in non-alcoholic beer), positioning AB InBev to capture new consumption occasions, increase per-capita consumption, and buffer potential declines in traditional beer-supporting future revenue and market share growth.
  
• Investment in digital transformation-including B2B (BEES marketplace up 63% GMV YoY) and DTC channels-has improved distribution efficiency and customer engagement, with digital revenues and gross merchandising value both growing, which is likely to enhance topline growth and provide potential for baked-in margin improvements over time.
  
• Ongoing operational optimization, including disciplined resource allocation, productivity initiatives, supply chain efficiencies, and deleveraging (net debt/EBITDA improving YoY), is supporting margin expansion (EBITDA margin up 116bps in Q2) and generating increased free cash flow-providing more flexibility for shareholder returns and future investments, benefiting net earnings over the longer term.

Anheuser-Busch InBev Future Earnings and Revenue Growth

Assumptions

• Analysts are assuming Anheuser-Busch InBev's revenue will grow by 5.1% annually over the next 3 years.
• Analysts assume that profit margins will increase from 12.2% today to 14.3% in 3 years time.
• Analysts expect earnings to reach $9.7 billion (and earnings per share of $5.11) by about August 2028, up from $7.1 billion today. However, there is some disagreement amongst the analysts with the more bearish ones expecting earnings as low as $8.1 billion.
• In order for the above numbers to justify the analysts price target, the company would need to trade at a PE ratio of 18.4x on those 2028 earnings, up from 16.8x today. This future PE is about the same as the current PE for the GB Beverage industry at 18.4x.
• Analysts expect the number of shares outstanding to decline by 0.98% per year for the next 3 years.
• To value all of this in today's terms, we will use a discount rate of 5.97%, as per the Simply Wall St company report.

Anheuser-Busch InBev Future Earnings Per Share Growth

Risks

• Ongoing volume declines in key emerging markets such as China and Brazil-in spite of positive margin and revenue management trends-signal underlying demand softness and industry headwinds that could curtail long-term top-line growth and limit sustained EBITDA momentum.
  
• The continued shift in consumer preferences toward non-alcoholic alternatives, craft, and premium beverages-while AB InBev is investing in innovation-still poses a risk to core mainstream lager brands, potentially eroding market share and placing pressure on revenue mix and profitability.
  
• High leverage and a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio still above 3x-despite deleveraging progress-continue to constrain financial flexibility and may weigh on net earnings growth and future capital allocation decisions if macro volatility or cost inflation persists.
  
• Weakness in the on-premise channel (notably in China) and persistent economic pressure on lower-income consumers could drive a longer-term structural shift in consumption occasions, threatening both volume and revenue recovery potential in important growth markets.
  
• Margin expansion, while strong this quarter, has been reliant on cost and productivity initiatives amid flat or declining volumes and headwinds from foreign exchange and commodity cost pressures, which may not be sustainable if revenue or volume growth fails to recover, potentially impacting future net margins and earnings.

Valuation

• The analysts have a consensus price target of €67.877 for Anheuser-Busch InBev based on their expectations of its future earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors. However, there is a degree of disagreement amongst analysts, with the most bullish reporting a price target of €77.55, and the most bearish reporting a price target of just €55.05.
  
• In order for you to agree with the analyst's consensus, you'd need to believe that by 2028, revenues will be $67.9 billion, earnings will come to $9.7 billion, and it would be trading on a PE ratio of 18.4x, assuming you use a discount rate of 6.0%.
  
• Given the current share price of €52.44, the analyst price target of €67.88 is 22.7% higher.
  
• We always encourage you to reach your own conclusions though. So sense check these analyst numbers against your own assumptions and expectations based on your understanding of the business and what you believe is probable.