Wells Fargo is adopting a bullish stance on Anheuser-Busch InBev . The bank initiated the brewer at an overweight rating. Its $75 price target implies upside of 23% from Tuesday’s close. The Budweiser maker has rallied 22% this year. Despite its strong performance, analyst Chris Carey noted the stock still looks cheap, trading near multidecade lows, versus mega-cap peers and its own earnings growth. Shares have also fallen 15% since AB InBev’s high of the year in June. BUD YTD mountain BUD YTD chart Carey pointed to upcoming catalysts, such as the World Cup, that could help accelerate the company’s volume. “While BUD’s volume have been under pressure, likely to end FY25E down y/y for the third straight year (-2.6%e, lowest on record ex 2020), volume has been +0.5% both over the long-term (FY16- FY24) and pre-pandemic years (FY16- FY19). Our estimates imply BUD starts to return toward this historical multi-year [compound annual growth rate] into 2026, i.e., we model segment volume based on a combination of recent trends, plus long-term historical growth,” he wrote. And although foreign exchange rates can be a drag on AB InBev, Carey believes that it looks positive potentially for the second time in nine years. This could create prospects for the best earnings growth in six years, he wrote. Carey added that steady margin recovery could emerge another key tenet to AB InBev’s fundamental story. “While this isn’t a ‘quick margin recovery’ pitch, as we don’t see a sharp move back to pre-pandemic levels for margins, we do expect steady progress going forward and lay out that case in this section,” he said. “The simple idea is that BUD digested substantial inflation, priced $ for $ to offset that inflation on our math, and is now beginning to see margins recover as that inflation storm has eased.”
