• by Danielle Oster , August 1, 2023

Molson Coors reported earnings for Q2 today that included an 12.1% increase in constant currency net sales revenue for the quarter, and came out ahead of analyst earnings-per-share expectations.

“Molson Coors has just finished the single best quarter of reported net sales revenue since the merger of Molson and Coors in 2005,” Molson Coors President and CEO Gavin Hattersley said on the company’s earnings call. “That achievement is not only a measure of those three months, it's a measure of the past three years. It's about the work we've done to strengthen our business, which puts us in a position to attract consumers when they begin looking for alternatives.”

Hattersley pointed to some highlights over the last quarter, claiming that "Coors Light grew more industry dollar share than any other beer brand,” while calling Miller Lite’s performance over the period “remarkably similar.”

He said the work that Molson Coors  put in to build the strength of its brands over the past three years allowed it capitalize on “our largest competitor's largest brand” deflating in sales "by nearly 30% during the quarter,”  referring to far-right reactions to AB InBev’s Bud Light social initiative with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, and fallout from the company’s statement in response, which was widely criticized for failing to support Mulvaney.

“Coors Light and Miller Lite in the United States naturally had an outsized impact on our second quarter results,” he noted. “To put the growth of these brands into perspective, Coors Light and Miller Lite combined were 50% bigger than Bud Light by total industry dollars and 30% bigger than Modelo Especial in the second quarter,” he said. “And to put that further in perspective, in the second quarter of last year, Bud Light was bigger than Coors Light and Miller Lite combined.”

Hattersley also cited strong performances from its Miller High Life and Keystone economy brews, as well as its Spiked hard seltzer brand, and strong momentum for ZOA – the energy drink brand co-founded by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

On the strength of its Q2 financial performance, Molson Coors raised its full-year guidance from the low single-digit growth previously anticipated to 23% to 26% underlying pre-tax income growth. The company is anticipating increased spending in the latter half of 2023 compared to the first half of the year. “This is primarily due to higher marketing spend, which is expected to be up approximately $100 million,” Molson Coors Chief Financial Officer Tracey Joubert said.

The market seemed to focus more on the negative, however, perhaps also a reaction to continued downward trends for the brewing industry overall. As of publication, Molson Coors was down nearly 4% from its previous closing price of $69.77.

MolsonCoors results arrive on the heels of competitor Heineken reporting H1 earnings that failed to meet analyst expectations yesterday. AB InBev, the chief domestic rival alluded to in Hattersley’s remarks, is scheduled to report its earnings on Thursday on the heels of a rocky quarter.