Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

But it’s early days. I don’t like to get too far over my skis too soon on any new product introduction. But so far, this is going at least according to plan, if not better, and we’re very pleased with the incrementality that we’re seeing. As I said, it’s slightly better than we saw in our test markets. So, all thumbs up for us at this point on that product.

Nadine Sarwat: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. Next question is coming from Andrea Teixeira from JPMorgan. Your line is now live.

Andrea Teixeira: Thank you. Good morning, everyone. So I wanted to go back to the marketing spend. I think you’ve mentioned for the year the 7% to 9% of the top line, you started well with 9%. So I was just hoping to reconcile, because you also said you expect it to be up to low-single. I mean not questioning, I think it’s probably a great thing to start well, especially now with this commentary about, obviously, what’s happening with Bud Light. And then related to – just a clarification on a bit on the gross margin side. And I think, Garth, you mentioned that obviously, you’ve got $30 million of cost benefit for savings. You also have some benefits from packaging. Is that – I believe we all in this call, we’re pleased to margins the way they came through for beer. So can you comment on a little bit what the lag room? Do you feel even more confident with your guide being conservative as the way I see it? Thank you.

Bill Newlands: So let me take the first half, and I’ll let Garth take the second half of that. Our marketing approach has been consistent for years. That’s one of the things that we think has been tremendous for our brands and why they continue to accelerate in the market. We believe in spending against our brands. We have refined it some. We’re getting much more capable in the digital arena than what we were just a few years ago. And I think that’s very positive. But we have the number one share of voice in the market and we expect to continue to be – to have that continue going forward. And we believe in it. It’s shown tremendous success for our brands as we’ve gotten to this point, and we believe it’s going to be an important part of our continued success moving forward. Garth, I’ll let you answer the other, if you would.

Garth Hankinson: Yes. On the margin front, look, I mean the 38% for the quarter was roughly in line, maybe slightly better than what our expectations were as we entered the year. We certainly feel confident in our ability to deliver the margin profile that we laid out at the beginning of the year. As I said in my prepared remarks, and as we reminded everyone in the last quarter, roughly 70% of our total COGS are subject to annual adjustments that are backward looking and only 30% have any fluctuation, are exposed to fluctuations throughout the year. And so again, we feel really good about the position that we’re in right now, and our ability to deliver the margin profile that’s consistent with the – with our earnings guidance.

Operator: Thank you. Your next question is coming from Chris Carey from Wells Fargo Securities. Your line is now live.