4. Ambev SA (NYSE:ABEV)
Price as of March 3: $2.07
Forward P/E ratio: 12.25
Analysts upside potential: 48.31%
Number of hedge fund holders: 22
Ambev SA (NYSE:ABEV) is one of Brazil’s largest companies and a major player in the beverage industry across the Americas. It is a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev, which is the world’s largest brewer by volume. The company produces and distributes beer, carbonated soft drinks, and other non-alcoholic beverages in Latin America.
Despite challenging market conditions, Ambev’s financials are robust. The fourth quarter of 2024 adjusted net profit increased 7.5% year-over-year to 5.02 billion reals ($874.63 million). The company posted this impressive performance despite a 3.2% decline in total volumes due to softer market conditions in Argentina and adverse weather in Brazil. It also managed to grow its organic net revenue by 4.2% to 27.04 billion reals ($4.71 billion), with growth occurring across most business units.
In addition to the traditional operational areas, Ambev SA (NYSE:ABEV) is aggressively entering the digital space, and the gamble is paying off. According to management:
“We continued to evolve on our digital transformation, expanding the availability and usage of BEES, our B2B digital platform, across our main operations and improving convenience to our consumers through Zé Delivery, our DTC platform in Brazil. By the end of 2024, BEES was live in eight of our top ten markets, with 1.3 million monthly active buyers and more than 88% of our gross revenue transacted through the platform. On the DTC front, Zé Delivery reached 9 million buyers, translating into over 66 million orders (a 10% increase compared to 2023).”
This financial and operational robustness is why Ambev SA (NYSE:ABEV) is among the top five on our list of the Best Value Penny Stocks to Invest in Now.
