Feb 18 (Reuters) – Beer maker Molson Coors forecast a sharp drop in annual profit on Wednesday, hurt by higher aluminum tariffs and weak spending among price-sensitive consumers.
Shares of the brewer fell about 6% in trading after the bell as the company also missed fourth-quarter revenue estimates.
The company behind its namesake beers, as well as Miller Lite, expects 2026 adjusted earnings per share to fall between 11% and 15%, compared with estimates of a 1.9% rise to $5.48, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The downbeat forecast comes as recently appointed CEO Rahul Goyal attempts to turn around the business by focusing on cost control after a difficult 2025 marked by weak beer demand, falling volumes and persistent inflation.
“We made the necessary difficult decisions in our business to course correct and set ourselves up for the future,” Goyal said.
Alcohol demand has softened as health‑conscious consumers shift toward non-alcoholic drinks and energy beverages, a trend compounded by the rapid adoption of GLP‑1 weight‑loss drugs. Younger drinkers, particularly Gen Z, are also pulling back from beer and spirits.
A spike in the U.S. Midwest aluminum premium led to an 8.1% jump in cost of goods sold per hectoliter for Molson Coors, which relies heavily on aluminum cans for packaging.
Molson Coors CFO Tracey Joubert warned that commodity inflation would remain as a major drag on the company’s profitability in 2026 even as she expects revenue trends to improve. The company’s executives at an industry conference on Wednesday also said aluminum costs are expected to weigh on profit by roughly $125 million.
Net sales in 2026 are projected in the range of down 1% to up 1% from last year, compared with analysts’ expectations of a 0.1% drop.
The company’s net sales for the quarter ended December 31 came in at $2.66 billion, below analysts’ estimates of $2.71 billion. It posted underlying earnings of $1.21 per share, beating estimates of $1.16 per share.
(Reporting by Koyena Das and Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo and Maju Samuel)
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