Jack Daniel’s parent Brown-Forman announces $400M stock buy-back plan
Kentucky-based spirits giant Brown-Forman announced Thursday its board of directors has approved buying back up to $400 million in shares.
The parent of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey has struggled this year with slipping sales and fall stock prices.
But the buy-back could help shore up the price, which has lost a lot of its value in the last year. The announcement comes two weeks before a planned investors’ day in Tennessee.
“Despite an increasingly competitive environment, we remain confident in our ability to generate strong cash flow,” Brown-Forman President and Chief Executive Officer Lawson Whiting said in a news release announcing the buy-back. “This repurchase is aligned with our broader capital deployment priorities and reflects our commitment to returning capital to shareholders while maintaining flexibility to invest in growth.”
Companies typically buy back shares to return value to investors by making the remaining shares more valuable, but it also can be a move to make a potential takeover more difficult. A takeover would be considered unlikely in this case because the company is still largely family-owned, with descendants on the board and in corporate roles.
In addition to Jack Daniel’s, Brown-Forman is the parent of premium bourbons Woodford Reserve and Old Forester, el Jimador and Herradura tequilas, The Glendronach, Glanglassaugh and Benraich Scotches, Diplomatico Rum, Gin Mare, Fords Gin, Chambord and Slain Irish whiskey.
In January, Brown-Forman announced it was laying off 12% of its global workforce and selling its historic Louisville cooperage after four consecutive quarters of declining sales. Facing the possibility of new tariffs and with an ongoing boycott in Canada, the company has seen sales slump throughout the year and the stock price has erased a decade of steady growth.
In August, the company reported whiskey sales to Canada have plummeted 60% due to the boycott, contributing to a 3% sales drop for the first quarter.
Just under a year ago, Brown-Forman shares were trading at $49.54, well above the current share price just under $28.
The buy-back began Oct. 1 and is scheduled to end Oct. 1, 2026, but the company said it could close it at any time.
This story was originally published October 2, 2025 at 3:06 PM.
