High Noon reportedly outpacing competitors’ growth in hard seltzer category

The Yahoo Finance Live team discusses a Guggenheim report that says High Noon had the most growth (+94.94%) in the hard seltzer category over the past four weeks.

Video transcript

- Spice to sizzle, let's talk hard seltzer. I'm taking a closer look at Boston Beer Company ticker SAM. In a note from Guggenheim, it seems that traditional hard seltzer category is in fact, losing its sizzle. Boston Beer's Truly hard seltzers in part driving that decline.

Sales down 28.2% in the last month. That's compared to White Claw up 0.3%. Bud Light Seltzer sales also down 50.2%.

Now, on the other hand, the ready-to-drink category is getting a boost here. Boston Beers company Twisted Tea sales up 31%. But that's far behind top competitor High Noon with sales up 94.4%. Now, the launch of its tequila offering contributing to that 28% of that growth.

And the Boston Beer Company also produces Hard Mountain Dew, which has seen a slowdown in sales compared to a year ago. But shares of Boston Beer Company down 19% from a year ago.

Now, I also want to note that ready-to-drink sales are just gaining share. We saw Jack Daniel's and Coke introduce something last week. In addition to that, AB enveils Neutral. They launched a national campaign.

It's their first one. That's the vodka hard seltzer brand. And so certainly seeing a pivot here when it comes to consumer preferences.

- We've been seeing this. I'm just shocked that Sam Adams didn't catch on to this quicker. When you saw High Noon sort of take off right, with obviously--

- Back in 2021, this is when--

- Yeah, and it's a vodka mix--

- [INAUDIBLE].

- --instead of the malt liquor. And it's become more popular. I'm just shocked that these brands weren't quicker to get to tequila and let High Noon beat them there.

- Yeah, and I think that's largely been the criticism here when it comes to Boston Beer, the lack of innovation, the lack of really being able to capitalize on some of the partnerships that they did have with distribution, why they weren't able to really expand some of their sales growth when it does come to Truly.

In terms of the hard seltzer category though, I wonder whether or not we've really seen the extension of that growth, because you have to wonder, people aren't talking about it nearly as much. The growth numbers have come down pretty sequentially here over the last several months, the last several quarters. And we know that Boston Beer has been slowly losing its grip on that market share.

Can't cut them out. They could always come out with something else. But you've got to question why it's taken them so long to do so.

Yeah.