Whiskey sales still down, but Jack Daniel’s parent ekes out slight gains
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- Q3 net sales rose 2% to $1.1B; nine-month net sales fell 2% to $3B.
- RTD grew fastest; shipments 17.7M cases vs whiskey's 16.3M.
- Reiterated guidance of low single-digit organic sales decline amid fiscal 2026 headwinds.
The parent of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey says sales picked up slightly in the last quarter, though traditional whiskey sales remain down.
Louisville-based Brown-Forman reported slight third-quarter gains: Net sales increased 2% to $1.1 billion, compared with the same period last year; reported operating income increased 21%, and earnings per share were up 1%.
But for the nine-month period, things are still gloomy, with reported net sales down 2% to $3 billion, reported operating income flat at $905 million and earnings per share down 8% to $1.41.
“I am pleased that our performance remains consistent with our fiscal year expectations, even as we navigate a challenging operating environment,” Lawson Whiting, president and chief executive officer, said in a news release.
Following last week’s news that global spirits giant Diageo could cut prices on some brands, Whiting was clear on Wednesday that Brown-Forman has no plans to reposition anything in its own portfolio anytime soon.
“I don’t believe we have to. I don’t believe it’s the smart thing to do, and we’re going to hold as hard as we can,” Whiting told Wall Street analysts.
Whiting also said that he has does not expect significant price shifts from any of the major spirits companies.
“I don’t think any of the big companies are saying that, or, in fact, are doing that,” Whiting said. “We are not planning, and it will not be in our plans for next year, to see sort of dramatic differences in pricing.”
For the year, the company reiterated that it expects an overall organic sales decline in the low single-digit range.
“We continue to anticipate the operating environment for fiscal 2026 to be challenging, with low visibility due to macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility as we face headwinds from consumer uncertainty and lower non-branded sales of used barrels,” the company said in its news release.
Much of the growth came from outside the company’s traditional powerhouse brand of Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7, which continues to drag on the gains made by newcomer Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Blackberry, which helped push net sales of whiskey products up 2% year to date.
Tequila sales also were down 6% overall, with lower volumes in the U.S. and Mexico.
But net sales for Brown-Forman’s ready-to-drink portfolio were up 8%, with the tequila-based New Mix jumping 37%, fueled by gains in Mexico and the launch in the U.S.
Ready-to-drink now tops whiskey sales in volume, with RTD shipments at 17.7 million 9-liter cases vs. whiskey’s 16.3, according to figures released by the company.
Lawson indicated the company will continue to lean into RTDs but that they are not a significant enough part of overall company sales for lower RTD prices to reduce their profits.
This mirrors overall trends in the spirits industry: The Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. reported last month that RTDs are now the biggest selling category in the U.S., topping vodka for the first time.
Even sales of the premium bourbons Woodford Reserve and Old Forester were up only 3 and 2%, respectively.
The continued absence from shelves in most provinces of Canada, which has been boycotting American spirits for a year now in protest of President Trump’s trade war, pulled the Jack Daniel’s RTD sales down 3%.
And overall sales in the U.S. are down 8% year-to-date. The introduction of Tennessee Blackberry and higher sales of Woodford Reserve have not been enough to offset declines in Jack Daniel’s core black label, the company said.
Developed international markets, including Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany, continue to be challenging, although there has been sequential improvement through the quarters the company said.
Sales to Canada are down 60% year-to-date, sales to the UK down 6% and Germany 1%, with Australia down 2% as well.
Emerging markets in Brazil and Turkey, as well as increasing sales in the travel retail market, have helped.
Brown-Forman declared a dividend of 23 cents on Feb. 18 and completed a $400 million share repurchase in December.
This story was originally published March 4, 2026 at 10:51 AM.
