Boston Q4 Depletions Up 15% but Shipments Down 25%; Still Expects a Positive ’22

Dear Client: You may remember our Boston Beer Q3 earnings headline: “Boston Grows Depletions and Shipments 11% in Q3 but Sees $133 Million Cost to Seltzer Slowdown.” And then, just last month, Boston pulled down its full year 2021 EPS guidance, due to lower-than-expected margins (including supply chain costs and expired inventory) and lackluster shipment growth, owed to “more aggressive wholesaler inventory reduction than expected, primarily affecting Truly.” So how did seltzer trends, inventories and total Boston brands affect Q4