10 Best Liquor Stocks To Buy According to Short Sellers

8. The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM)

Short % of Shares Outstanding: 3.04%

Coming in at number 8 on our list of the Best Alcohol Stocks is The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM). One of the largest American-owned brewing companies, TBBC is best known for its line of all-malt beers under the brand name Samuel Adams.

As the craft beer market continues to suffer, The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM) is following an aggressive diversification strategy to keep up with the changing consumer trends.  A great example is the company’s launch of a distinctly American light craft lager called Samuel Adams American Light, to make sure it doesn’t miss out on the up-and-coming no-lo trend. TBBC also forayed into the rapidly ballooning THC beverages sector recently with the launch of Emerald Hour, a line of non-alcoholic ‘Cali Sober’ cannabis cocktails. The company continues to remain a dominant force also in the hard tea category and its Twisted Tea Brand enjoys a strong 85% market share, with the next best-selling competitor brand limited to a low single-digit share in the market.

As part of its continuous efforts to optimize its supply chain, The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM) announced last month that it has amended its production agreement with Rauch North America to better align with its future capacity needs. The move has cost the company a $26 million cash payment to Rauch but will help it secure increased production flexibility and more favorable termination rights. Consequently, Boston Beer has cut its full-year GAAP earnings per share guidance to $3.80-$5.80, down from $5.50-$7.50.

Despite the payoff, The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM) remains in a strong financial position. The beverage company declared in its Q3 2024 earnings call transcript that it had generated over $200 million in operating cash flow YTD and maintained a cash balance of $256 million at the end of the third quarter with no debt, a rarity among the massive global beer conglomerates. Moreover, to return value to its shareholders, TBBC has repurchased $191 million in shares this year by the end of Q3 and recently even expanded its share repurchase authorization by $400 million, bringing the total repurchase agreement to $1.6 billion.