Boston Beer Evolving

Dear Client:    Boston Beer covered a lot of ground in its approximate 75-minute Q4/2023 earnings call, which saw (on a comparable week basis) depletions down 1%, and shipments down 3.5%. That wasn’t a terrible showing, but net revs also declined 3.1% and the company disclosed a net loss of $18.1 million in the quarter. For full year ’23, which had one less selling week, shipments and depletions were down around 5% on a comparable weeks basis.  Shortfall fees from third-party