The owner of Coors Light, Miller Lite and Blue Moon saw underlying profit fall 17.4% in the third quarter, squeezed by aluminum prices
Molson Coors, the owner of Coors Light, Miller Lite and Blue Moon, reported on Thursday (November 5) a worse-than-expected third quarter and cut its 2026 guidance. Brand volume, which measures what distributors sell to retailers, fell 4.9% worldwide, with a 5.3% drop in the Americas and 3.8% in Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, according to the company's results release. In the United States, its main market, the decline was 5.6%, driven by core and value brands and industry softness.
Net sales slipped 1.6% to US$ 2.93 billion; excluding currency, the decline was 1.2%. Shipment volume fell 3%, partly offset by higher pricing and mix (+1.8%). Underlying pretax income fell 17.4% to US$ 349 million, and underlying earnings per share of US$ 1.46 were down 12.6%, below analysts' expectations, according to Zacks. On a reported basis, the company earned US$ 271.5 million, against a loss of US$ 2.9 billion a year earlier, when it wrote down US$ 3.6 billion from the value of its Americas business.
Cost of goods sold per hectoliter rose 8.6%, with inflation in materials, logistics and manufacturing. The company points to roughly US$ 30 million of impact from the Midwest Premium, the aluminum surcharge in the US market, which for the full year should run about US$ 130 million above 2025. Gross margin contracted by about 4.25 percentage points to 35.2%, according to Zacks. On the expense side, marketing, general and administrative costs fell 7.7%, with job cuts and lower advertising spending.
We believe our strategy is on the right track, but these outcomes are not yet scaled enough to offset the headwinds that we experienced in the third quarter.Rahul Goyal, Molson Coors' chief executive, in the results statement
For 2026, Molson Coors now expects net sales to be 1% to 2% lower in constant currency, instead of flat; underlying pretax income 21% to 24% lower, instead of 15% to 18%; and underlying earnings per share 16% to 19% lower, instead of 11% to 15%. Expected underlying free cash flow fell from US$ 1.1 billion to US$ 1 billion. The company says the weak beer volume trends seen in the second and third quarters should persist in the fourth, and that promotional pressure in the United Kingdom also continues.
Molson Coors launched its Horizon 2030 plan this year and, in October 2025, announced a restructuring in the Americas. Beyond beer, it owns Vizzy Hard Seltzer and distributes Fever-Tree in the US.
Bebidário's catalog includes Blue Moon Belgian White, Molson Coors' witbier, among other American beers.
Sources: Molson Coors (November 5, 2026), Zacks Equity Research, via Yahoo Finance (November 6, 2026).
