A-B Q4: Depletion Trends Start to Reverse Fall, But Revenue Worsens

Dear Client: Anheuser Busch InBev reported Q4 '23 and full year results last evening, earlier than the usual overnight cadence. How'd the U.S biz shape up? Somewhat surprisingly, we saw some sequential improvement in Q4 depletions, which were down 12.1% (vs. -16.6% in Q3), primarily attributed to Bud Light declines. But shipments lagged “stronger depletions in December,” with STWs down 16.1% in the quarter, just a bit better than Q3’s decline. Revenue was worse than the prior quarter, down 17.3%