There are no two ways about it -- Boston Beer (NYSE: SAM) messed up. The ramp-up in production of its Truly brand of hard seltzer over the past year was just too aggressive compared to consumers' actual interest in the products. The brewer acknowledged around the middle of the year that demand isn't as firm as it was expected to be in late 2020. Then in October, CFO Frank Smalla confessed that the company had disposed of an excess supply of hard seltzer it knew it wouldn't be able to sell soon enough. The decision led to a loss of $4.76 per share for the three-month stretch ending in September, versus a profit of $6.61 per share for the same quarter a year earlier.
Shareholders paid the price, of course. The stock's now down more than 60% from its April peak, peeling back in response to the surprising slowdown on the seltzer front.
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