Another alcohol maker reports grim financial news. What does it mean for KY bourbon?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Constellation cut 2026 sales outlook due to slowing consumer demand trends.
- High-end beer sales dropped 3.5% in July, hitting Hispanic markets hardest.
- Stock fell 8% pre-market, dragging shares of Brown-Forman and other rivals.
Another spirits company reported bad financial news Tuesday morning, resulting in a stock market drop across the alcohol sector.
Constellation Brands, parent of Corona and Modelo beers, as well as Utah-based High West bourbon and Kim Crawford, The Prisoner and Robert Mondavi wines, announced before the stock market opened Tuesday it was downgrading its fiscal 2026 outlook due to “macroeconomic headwinds affecting consumer demand.”
The company said it now expects enterprise organic sales to be down up to 6%, with beer sales down up to 4% and wine and spirits unchanged from a predicted 20% drop.
Previously, the company had expected enterprise organic sales to be down only 2%, with beer sales flat and wine and spirits sales down 20%.
“We continue to navigate a challenging macroeconomic environment that has dampened consumer demand and led to more volatile consumer purchasing behavior since our first quarter of fiscal 2026,” Constellations CEO Bill Newlands said in the announcement.
“Over the last several months, high-end beer buy rates decelerated sequentially, as both trip frequency and spend per trip declined. Notably, high-end beer buy rate declines for Hispanic consumers were more pronounced than general market declines, which has an outsized impact on our beer business compared to the broader beer category,” Newlands continued.
Sales are down more among Hispanic consumers than beer drinkers as a whole, Constellation said, with elevated concern “impacting consumption occasions as Hispanic consumers gather less with family and friends in public spaces and at home.”
High-end beer sales have plunged since January, down 3.5% in July alone, according to the company.
Overall, consumer sentiment remains “volatile and depressed,” the company said.
The news mirrors statements last week by Brown-Forman CEO Lawson Whiting, who said the Louisville-based company saw sales fall 3% for the first quarter. Other spirits companies also have recently reported declining sales.
On Tuesday, Constellation’s announcement caused its shares to immediately drop more than 8% in pre-market trading, pulling down others in the sector as well, including Brown-Forman, initially down more than 1% before the market’s opening bell.
In August, Constellation sold Copper & Kings, a brandy and bourbon maker in Louisville, to Bourdon Spirits Company.
