SAM - Boston Beer cut at Cowen with hard seltzer sales decelerating

Cowen drops Boston Beer (SAM) to a Market Perform rating after having it slotted at Outperform. "While we were bullish on SAM's relative positioning amid COVID-19, decelerating hard seltzer category growth and an intensifying competitive landscape leave us more cautious on the potential for positive earnings revisions," warns analyst Vivien Azer. Azer notes that the U.S. hard seltzer category has decelerated for the past eight consecutive months and is currently running at 83% growth. She notes that SAM faces some headwinds after the pandemic as their two growth drivers in Truly and Twisted Tea have little to no exposure to the on-premise channel and will face tough comparables. Cowen's new price target of $1,000 on SAM reflects a 40X multiple on the FY21 EPS estimate. SAM -0.42% premarket to $914.78. Seeking Alpha author Andrew Cournoyer warned last month that growth rate assumptions on Boston Beer are lofty.

For further details see:

Boston Beer cut at Cowen with hard seltzer sales decelerating