# Boston Beer Company (SAM.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/SAM

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:31:45.591Z. Financial observations: FY1996–FY2025.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: pass; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $179.20 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 3 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 3

- Years with a net loss: 0

- Operating margin variation: 0.57×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 0.15×

- FY2017: 0.13×

- FY2018: 0.12×

- FY2019: 0.12×

- FY2020: 0.14×

- FY2021: 0.00×

- FY2022: 0.04×

- FY2023: 0.05×

- FY2024: 0.04×

- FY2025: 0.07×

### moat: fail

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- ROIC, median of available years: 17.9%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: 8.1%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 1.9 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 46.3%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 44.4%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 4.9%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 17.3%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 25.4%

- FY2017: 27.9%

- FY2018: 26.5%

- FY2019: 17.1%

- FY2020: 25.5%

- FY2021: 0.9%

- FY2022: 8.1%

- FY2023: 9.8%

- FY2024: 8.2%

- FY2025: 18.7%

### economics: fail

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- Owner earnings / net income, 5-yr: 1.24×

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: $404M

- Net income, five-year total: $326M

- Return on incremental invested capital: 0.7%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: -0.2 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: -1.6 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 4.5%

Chart: Annual owner cash / profit; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: 1.00×

- FY2022: 1.00×

- FY2023: 1.32×

- FY2024: 1.30×

- FY2025: 1.33×

### management: fail

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2016 to 2025 (9 years)

- buybacks leaned toward cheaper years (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 26.5% vs 9.8%

- Per-share earnings: 7.28 to 6.22 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: -2.1%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: -2.3%

- Market cap gain: -$39M

- Cumulative retained earnings: $50M

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: -2.1%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: -2.3%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value growth: -1.9%

- Per-share value change: -$1.06

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: $7.28

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: $6.22

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): 0.82

- Average buyback yield: 4.0%

- Buyback history: 9 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: No

- Acquisition spending: $211M

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: $907M

- ROIC, first three-year median: 26.5%

- ROIC, last three-year median: 9.8%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: $6.83

- FY2017: $8.13

- FY2018: $7.90

- FY2019: $9.24

- FY2020: $15.63

- FY2021: $1.17

- FY2022: $5.45

- FY2023: $6.22

- FY2024: $5.07

- FY2025: $9.92

### accounting: pass

- Sloan accruals: -13.5%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 1.15×

- Restructuring years, last five: 2

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 8.1%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Operating cash / earnings: 2.49×

- Accounting red flags: 0

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 0.15×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -10.7%

- FY2017: -6.5%

- FY2018: -11.1%

- FY2019: -7.2%

- FY2020: -4.4%

- FY2021: -3.0%

- FY2022: -9.3%

- FY2023: -13.2%

- FY2024: -15.1%

- FY2025: -13.5%

## Holders

- [Mason Hawkins](https://gigainvestors.com/SE): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

## Price story

Down 65% since Dec 2021 · "Demand remains soft, with weaker depletions, lower shipments and pressure across several major brands." (finance.yahoo.com, Jul 2026) · sales +3.7%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:59:32.797Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

- 2025-04-24: Samuel Adams Brewer Projects Tariff Hit of $20 Million or More ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/m/193ae4d1-8465-3e1d-b472-25da5a6e108a/samuel-adams-brewer-projects.html))

- 2025-05-12: SAM Q1 Earnings Call: Revenue Beats Expectations, Guidance Weighed Down by Tariff Uncertainty ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sam-q1-earnings-call-revenue-115238713.html))

- 2025-07-25: Boston Beer raises gross margin guidance to 46%-47.3% amid shipment declines and brand investment ([seekingalpha.com](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4471973-boston-beer-raises-gross-margin-guidance-to-46-percentminus-47_3-percent-amid-shipment?utm_source=feed_news_all&utm_medium=referral&feed_item_type=news))

- 2026-02-25: Boston Beer's Q4 Loss Narrows, Lower Volumes Hurt Revenues ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/boston-beers-q4-loss-narrows-151100574.html))

- 2026-05-01: Boston Beer narrows profit guidance on litigation costs ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/boston-beer-narrows-profit-guidance-140924948.html))

- 2026-07-24: Boston Beer Q2 Earnings Miss Estimates on Higher Marketing Costs ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/boston-beer-q2-earnings-miss-154900552.html))

### Sales · FY2024–2025

sales +3.7%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/949870/000119312526067467/sam-20251227.htm; observed 2026-02-24.

- FY2016: $906M 

- FY2017: $863M 

- FY2018: $996M 

- FY2019: $1.2B 

- FY2020: $1.7B 

- FY2021: $2.1B 

- FY2022: $2.1B 

- FY2023: $2.0B 

- FY2024: $2.0B 

- FY2025: $2.1B 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 45.6%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/949870/000119312526067467/sam-20251227.htm; observed 2026-02-24.

- FY2016: 50.7% 

- FY2017: 52.1% 

- FY2018: 51.4% 

- FY2019: 49.1% 

- FY2020: 46.9% 

- FY2021: 38.8% 

- FY2022: 41.2% 

- FY2023: 42.4% 

- FY2024: 44.4% 

- FY2025: 45.6% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in beverages brewers; annual sales are USD 2.1 billion.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/949870/000119312526067467/sam-20251227.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: revenue 2087251000; grossProfit 952580000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-15); SAM.US: The Boston Beer Company, Inc. produces and sells alcohol beverages primarily in the United States. Its flagship beer is Samuel Adams Boston Lager. The company offers various beers, hard ciders, spirits based ready to drink beverages, distilled spirits, flavored malt beverages, and hard seltzers under the Samuel Adams, Twisted Tea, Truly, Angry Orchard, Dogfish Head, and Sun Cruiser brand names. It markets and sells its products to a network wholesaler in the United States, as well as wholesalers, importers, or other agencies that in turn sell to retailers, such as grocery stores, club stores, convenience stores, liquor stores, bars, restaurants, stadiums, and other traditional and e-commerce retail outlets. It sells its products in Canada, Mexico, and internationally. The Boston Beer Company, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 42.4% to 45.6% during 2023–25; it earns 17.9% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 42.4%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 44.4%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/949870/000119312526067467/sam-20251227.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 45.6%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,0.253958164814736],[2017,0.27851466510852846],[2018,0.2651665513388065],[2019,0.1705625971595697],[2020,0.25502385918709064],[2021,0.008831487228191848],[2022,0.08050689381178895],[2023,0.09769888046517114],[2024,0.08209489648640841],[2025,0.18678689621436706]]; median 0.17867474668696837. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 4 of 10 years; bought back USD 204.9 million of shares.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2016: growth capex 0; upkeep 49913000; owner earnings 86993000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2017: growth capex 0; upkeep 32987000; owner earnings 117318000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2018: growth capex 3542000; upkeep 51968000; cash acquisitions 50000; owner earnings 92663000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.038764123760292674.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2019: growth capex 36962000; upkeep 56271000; owner earnings 110041000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.33589298534182715.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2020: growth capex 74339000; upkeep 65657000; owner earnings 191960000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.3872629714523859.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2021: growth capex 75823000; upkeep 72096000; owner earnings 14553000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 5.210128495842781.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2022: growth capex 9226000; upkeep 81356000; owner earnings 67263000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.13716307628265167.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2023: growth capex 0; upkeep 64087000; owner earnings 100304000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); FY2024: growth capex 0; upkeep 76277000; owner earnings 77410000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/949870/000119312526067467/sam-20251227.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: growth capex 0; upkeep 54563000; owner earnings 144344000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); Dividend observations: [[2016,40127000],[2017,0],[2018,0],[2019,0],[2020,13582000],[2021,5071000],[2022,3474000],[2023,0],[2024,0],[2025,0]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/949870/000119312526067467/sam-20251227.htm (filed 2026-02-24); FY2025: cash repurchases 204868000 USD.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 9.3% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-15); SAM.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 9.335 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-15.

### What the price says

The price is 0.9 times annual sales.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-24); Closing price 179.2 USD; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2025 annual sales per share 190.8431013989211; price multiple 0.9389912377572222. FY2025 cash earnings/share 13.19776904087044. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2016-10: $155.25 per share

- 2016-11: $173.10 per share

- 2016-12: $169.85 per share

- 2017-01: $153.70 per share

- 2017-02: $158.65 per share

- 2017-03: $144.65 per share

- 2017-04: $144.35 per share

- 2017-05: $142.75 per share

- 2017-06: $132.15 per share

- 2017-07: $156.80 per share

- 2017-08: $149.00 per share

- 2017-09: $156.20 per share

- 2017-10: $178.05 per share

- 2017-11: $179.85 per share

- 2017-12: $191.10 per share

- 2018-01: $189.85 per share

- 2018-02: $163.05 per share

- 2018-03: $189.05 per share

- 2018-04: $224.15 per share

- 2018-05: $253.85 per share

- 2018-06: $299.70 per share

- 2018-07: $274.95 per share

- 2018-08: $303.15 per share

- 2018-09: $287.50 per share

- 2018-10: $307.29 per share

- 2018-11: $274.54 per share

- 2018-12: $240.84 per share

- 2019-01: $249.16 per share

- 2019-02: $312.56 per share

- 2019-03: $294.73 per share

- 2019-04: $310.01 per share

- 2019-05: $314.30 per share

- 2019-06: $377.76 per share

- 2019-07: $392.32 per share

- 2019-08: $438.42 per share

- 2019-09: $364.08 per share

- 2019-10: $374.46 per share

- 2019-11: $384.32 per share

- 2019-12: $377.85 per share

- 2020-01: $356.38 per share

- 2020-02: $370.79 per share

- 2020-03: $367.56 per share

- 2020-04: $466.51 per share

- 2020-05: $564.73 per share

- 2020-06: $536.65 per share

- 2020-07: $810.44 per share

- 2020-08: $881.98 per share

- 2020-09: $883.36 per share

- 2020-10: $1,039.18 per share

- 2020-11: $930.84 per share

- 2020-12: $994.29 per share

- 2021-01: $916.89 per share

- 2021-02: $1,028.71 per share

- 2021-03: $1,206.28 per share

- 2021-04: $1,216.49 per share

- 2021-05: $1,058.16 per share

- 2021-06: $1,020.80 per share

- 2021-07: $710.00 per share

- 2021-08: $570.21 per share

- 2021-09: $509.75 per share

- 2021-10: $492.48 per share

- 2021-11: $451.17 per share

- 2021-12: $505.10 per share

- 2022-01: $420.83 per share

- 2022-02: $383.46 per share

- 2022-03: $388.47 per share

- 2022-04: $375.00 per share

- 2022-05: $355.30 per share

- 2022-06: $302.97 per share

- 2022-07: $380.43 per share

- 2022-08: $337.08 per share

- 2022-09: $323.65 per share

- 2022-10: $373.29 per share

- 2022-11: $384.37 per share

- 2022-12: $329.52 per share

- 2023-01: $388.61 per share

- 2023-02: $323.80 per share

- 2023-03: $328.70 per share

- 2023-04: $317.51 per share

- 2023-05: $337.50 per share

- 2023-06: $308.44 per share

- 2023-07: $371.44 per share

- 2023-08: $365.43 per share

- 2023-09: $389.53 per share

- 2023-10: $333.95 per share

- 2023-11: $354.76 per share

- 2023-12: $345.59 per share

- 2024-01: $349.27 per share

- 2024-02: $308.14 per share

- 2024-03: $304.42 per share

- 2024-04: $278.41 per share

- 2024-05: $313.67 per share

- 2024-06: $305.05 per share

- 2024-07: $280.21 per share

- 2024-08: $271.72 per share

- 2024-09: $289.14 per share

- 2024-10: $291.07 per share

- 2024-11: $316.24 per share

- 2024-12: $299.98 per share

- 2025-01: $250.67 per share

- 2025-02: $243.77 per share

- 2025-03: $238.84 per share

- 2025-04: $245.80 per share

- 2025-05: $229.85 per share

- 2025-06: $190.81 per share

- 2025-07: $207.08 per share

- 2025-08: $221.09 per share

- 2025-09: $211.42 per share

- 2025-10: $206.99 per share

- 2025-11: $194.80 per share

- 2025-12: $195.13 per share

- 2026-01: $213.62 per share

- 2026-02: $226.78 per share

- 2026-03: $230.40 per share

- 2026-04: $237.04 per share

- 2026-05: $177.28 per share

- 2026-06: $177.03 per share

- 2026-07: $183.20 per share

- 2026-08: $177.81 per share

- 2026-09: $164.02 per share

- 2026-10: $179.20 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/949870/000119312526067467/sam-20251227.htm); period 2025-12-27, filed 2026-02-24.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.