Boston Beer Co., Inc. reports first quarter 2021 net revenue of $545.1 million, an increase of $214.5 million or 64.9% from the same period last year, mainly due to an increase in shipments of 60.1%. Net income for the first quarter was $65.6 million, or $5.26 a share, an increase of $47.3 million or 259.6% from the same period last year.
Depletions increased 48% from the 13-week comparable period in the prior year.
Full-year depletion and shipment growth is now estimated at between 40% and 50%, an increase from the previously communicated range of between 35% and 45%.
Advertising, promotional and selling expenses in the first quarter increased $43.0 million or 43.9%.
Jim Koch, Chairman/Founder said: “As the world slowly reopens and the COVID-19 pandemic winds down, our primary focus continues to be on operating our breweries and our business safely and working hard to continue to innovate and meet customer demand.
“Working with the Greg Hill Foundation, our Samuel Adams Restaurant Strong Fund has raised $7.5 million thus far to support bar and restaurant workers who are experiencing hardships in the wake of COVID-19 and is committed to distributing 100% of its proceeds through grants to bar and restaurant workers across the country.
“The Company’s depletions increased 48% percent in the first quarter and we achieved double-digit volume growth for the twelfth consecutive quarter. Early in 2021, we launched Truly Iced Tea Hard Seltzer and during the second quarter we plan to launch Truly Punch Hard Seltzer,” he added.
Dave Burwick, president/CEO said, “First quarter shipments growth was significantly higher than depletions growth as we took active steps to ensure that our distributor inventory levels are adequate to support drinker demand during the peak summer months.” He attributed depletions growth in the first quarter to increases in Truly Hard Seltzer and Twisted Tea brands, partly offset by decreases in our Samuel Adams, Angry Orchard and Dogfish Head brands.
In the first quarter in measured off-premise channels, the Truly brand outgrew the hard seltzer category by nearly 2X or 50 percentage points, resulting in a share increase of 6.5 percentage points. The Truly brand has now reached a market share of over 28%, accounting for about 40% of all growth cases in the hard seltzer category, which is two times greater than the next largest growth brand, Burwick said.
Truly Iced Tea Hard Seltzer has achieved a 4.3 percentage point market share in measured off-premise channels, well ahead of all other new entrants to the entire beer category, Burwick said, adding that in the first quarter in measured off-premise channels, case growth in Twisted Tea brand products was almost three times higher than its closest competitor “and we believe Twisted Tea is on its way to becoming the No. 1 flavored malt beverage (FMB) by year’s end.
“We see significant distribution and volume growth opportunities for our Truly and Twisted Tea brands and are looking to continue to expand distribution of our Dogfish Head brand. Pursuing these opportunities in 2021 remains a top priority,” Burwick said.
Samuel Adams, Angry Orchard and Dogfish Head brands were hit the most by COVID-19 and the related on-premise closures. “We continue to work hard on returning these brands to growth and are optimistic that they will return to growth in 2021,” Burwick added. Overall, given the trends for the first three months and our current view of the remainder of the year, we’ve adjusted our expectations for higher 2021 full-year volume and earnings growth, which is primarily driven by the strong performance of our Truly and Twisted Tea brands.”
