10 Best Alcohol Stocks to Buy Now

1. Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 47

Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) continues to be the Best Alcohol Stock in 2024, with 47 hedge fund holders in Q1 2024 boasting an overall stake value of over $2.74 billion. The New York-based company is involved in the production, import, marketing, and sale of beer, wine, and spirits across the United States, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and Italy. The company made headlines last summer when its Mexican beer brand, Modelo Especial, became the Top-Selling Beer in America after dethroning Bud Light. As a result, STZ reported a revenue of over $2.12 billion during its last quarter of fiscal year 2024, a significant increase of 22.7% compared to the previous year. Net income also went up by 11.7% to reach $105 million.

The U.S. beer industry saw a tough start to the year, given the poor weather conditions in the states. However, STZ’s beer segment, which brought in 82% of its sales in FY 2024, still reported growth of 10.9% during the last quarter. The volume demand continues to grow and the company management stating that Q1 2025 is ‘setting us off on a really solid year’ suggests that they are seeing no major signs of slowdown. And while STZ’s Wine & Spirits segment witnessed a 5.6% decline in Q4, its smaller size minimizes the downside risk. For fiscal year 2024, Constellation Brands generated $2.8 billion in operating cash flow and was able to reduce its net leverage ratio by nearly half a point while returning over $900 million back to its shareholders through quarterly dividends and share repurchases. And although its forward dividend yield doesn’t seem high at 1.51%, the company has both paid and grown its dividends for the last eight years.

Another factor helping STZ is that America’s Hispanic population is growing almost twice as fast as its general population, so brands like Modelo and Corona are expected to stay in high demand.

While we acknowledge the potential of STZ as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as STZ but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None.