Quality Investor

The Boston Beer Company, Inc.

Rank #23Capital Return

SAM · NYSE · Consumer Defensive

The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (SAM) — Rank #23 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.76) · ROE 15.2% · Piotroski F-Score N/A.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0000949870 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

The Boston Beer Company, Inc. produces and sells alcohol beverages primarily in the United States.

Show more

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.

Industry
Beverages - Brewers
Sector
Consumer Defensive
State
MA
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
December 27

Price History

SAM-69.3% · -21.0% CAGRSPY+80.5% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/E and reverse DCF are the primary valuation lenses at this stage.

Market Cap

$1.77B

P/E (annual)

17.1

P/S (annual)

0.9

P/B

2.5

P/OCF (annual)

6.5

Shareholder Yield

7.0%

Employees

2,736

Industry

Beverages - Brewers

Exchange

NYSE

Signal Flags

2 green1 red
Operating leverage expandingOperating income growing faster than revenue
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 1-quarter streak
Revenue declining YoYRevenue contracted year over year

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.76
Return on equity
15.2%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
0.76
Current ratio
1.05×
Net cash
$265.55M

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
1.1%

Growth

1/2 pass
Revenue growth
-2.4%
Piotroski F-Score
N/A
Share dilution
-7.0%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 1/5 Terry Smith thresholds

1 of 5 threshold not computable from filed data.

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

-4.0%

incredible deal

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Buyback tailwind: -7.0% — per-share value needs a total required return of -11.0% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 0.9%

within its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

-7.6%

r = 10% (base)

-4.0%

r = 12%

-0.9%

Net debt / market cap: -14.3%

Base FCF: $215.6M3Y mean FCF: $196.4M

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

23.0xCheap
23.0xmed 46.6x327.1x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

1.3xCheap
1.3xmed 2.3x8.6x

P / B

Price / book value per share

2.9xCheap
2.9xmed 4.8x15.6x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

2.6xCheap
2.6xmed 5.3x18.3x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

11.5xCheap
11.5xmed 22.9x131.4x

FCF yield, shareholder yield, and buyback activity are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.76

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

1st of 18 SIC 20 peers

Return on equity

15.2%

Gross margin

48.5%

5th of 18 SIC 20 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

-2.4%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2022202320242025
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

-2.0%

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

2.5%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

17.3%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

25.4%

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

0.76

12th of 18 SIC 20 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

1.05×

18th of 18 SIC 20 peers

Quick ratio

0.74×

Net cash

$265.55M

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Recession resistance

Revenue through recessions

Worst single-year YoY revenue decline, 17 years of history

Strong
2008-2009 (GFC)
N/AN/A
2020 (COVID)
38.9%Grew through it
Worst year on record(any fiscal year, not recession-limited)
-5.6%Mild decline

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$215.59M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

0.99

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

1.1%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

N/A

Only 8/9 components determinable.

Lifecycle Phase History

20202025
Hypergrowth
Op. Leverage
Value
Capital Return