BUD vs SAM Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Anheuser-Busch InBev and Boston Beer both compete in beer and beyond-beer beverages, but AB InBev operates at massive global scale across many countries and brands, while Boston Beer is a much smaller U.S.-focused company built around Samuel Adams and a diversified hard seltzer and hard tea portfolio.
AB InBev offers global scale and diversification across mature and emerging beer markets, while Boston Beer offers a more concentrated bet on U.S. beyond-beer category trends with a debt-free balance sheet. Consider whether you prefer AB InBev's global scale or Boston Beer's focused U.S. innovation approach.
BUD holds the edge across 5 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. BUD leads on both 1-year return (+37.81%) and forward P/E quality (16.15x vs 17.03x for SAM), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. BUD leads on both revenue growth (11.00%) and operating margin (27.34%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for BUD (+20.76%) than for SAM (+13.91%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want exposure to the world's largest brewer with unmatched global scale
- Believe premiumization trends will continue to support margin improvement
- Value diversification across developed and emerging beer markets
- Are comfortable with elevated balance sheet leverage relative to peers
- Want concentrated exposure to U.S. beyond-beer category innovation
- Believe a diversified hard seltzer and hard tea portfolio can drive renewed growth
- Value a debt-free balance sheet providing financial flexibility
- Are comfortable with volatility in flavored malt beverage consumer demand trends
| Metric | BUD | SAM |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 28.2 | 25.1 |
| AI ranki | #2373 | #2942 |
| Latest closei | $80.35 | $168.78 |
| 1M returni | -5.67% | -9.55% |
| 6M returni | +10.63% | -26.87% |
| 1Y returni | +37.81% | -25.64% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | BUD | SAM |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $13.98K (+39.8%) started 2025-09-04 | $7.5K (-25.0%) started 2025-09-08 |
| 5Y ago | $15.55K (+55.5%) started 2021-09-07 | $3.02K (-69.8%) started 2021-09-08 |
| 10Y ago | $9.55K (-4.5%) started 2016-09-06 | $9.38K (-6.2%) started 2016-09-08 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | BUD | SAM |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $158.22B | $1.81B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 17.32 | N/A |
| Forward P/Ei | 16.15 | 17.03 |
| Price/Salesi | 2.53 | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 16.31 | 0.80 |
| Analyst targeti | $97.03 | $199.83 |
| Target upsidei | +20.76% | +13.91% |
| Metric | BUD | SAM |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 11.00% | -3.30% |
| Earnings growthi | 124.90% | -9.00% |
| EPS growthi | +124.90% | -9.00% |
| FCF margini | +17.08% | +19.35% |
| Operating margini | 27.34% | 9.33% |
| Profit margini | 14.90% | -3.64% |
| ROIC proxyi | 11.39% | -8.61% |
| Return on equityi | 11.39% | -8.61% |
| Dividend yieldi | 1.67% | N/A |
| Betai | 0.78 | 0.84 |
| Debt/equityi | 71.88 | 4.42 |
| Current ratioi | 0.66 | 1.04 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.46 | 0.75 |
Over the past year, BUD and SAM have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.25), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | BUD | SAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +37.81% | -24.98% |
| CAGRi | +37.84% | -25.03% | |
| Volatilityi | 23.23% | 37.53% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.30 | -0.70 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 2.02 | -0.94 | |
| Max drawdowni | 16.64% | 38.06% | |
| Current drawdowni | 7.09% | 35.10% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 4.00% | 15.83% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 5.69% | 19.68% | |
| Max daily dropi | 3.58% | 9.59% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 9.02% | 14.69% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +44.90% | -69.83% |
| CAGRi | +7.71% | -21.32% | |
| Volatilityi | 24.93% | 38.34% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.24 | -0.56 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.35 | -0.80 | |
| Max drawdowni | 33.13% | 71.20% | |
| Current drawdowni | 7.09% | 69.83% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 10.89% | 45.16% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 13.19% | 47.65% | |
| Max daily dropi | 13.33% | 15.76% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 18.66% | 19.73% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | -23.35% | -6.17% |
| CAGRi | -2.63% | -0.64% | |
| Volatilityi | 27.64% | 40.76% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.12 | 0.08 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.17 | 0.11 | |
| Max drawdowni | 70.51% | 87.67% | |
| Current drawdowni | 26.51% | 87.08% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 37.67% | 43.92% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 40.61% | 55.35% | |
| Max daily dropi | 16.01% | 26.02% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 28.50% | 25.54% |
| Category | BUD | SAM |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV | The Boston Beer Company, Inc. |
| Sector | Consumer Staples | Consumer Defensive |
| Industry | Beverages - Brewers | Beverages - Brewers |
| Core business | The world's largest brewer, with a global portfolio of beer brands sold across developed and emerging markets, including significant exposure to Latin American and Asian beer consumption. | A craft brewer and hard seltzer and beverage company known for its Samuel Adams beer brand alongside a portfolio of hard seltzer, hard tea, and other flavored malt beverage brands sold primarily in the United States. |
| Investor focus | Organic volume and revenue growth across its global brand portfolio, deleveraging progress on its balance sheet, and premiumization trends within its beer mix. | Depletion trends across its hard seltzer and beyond-beer brand portfolio, gross margin recovery, and progress diversifying beyond any single flavored beverage trend. |
- Unmatched global scale as the largest brewer provides significant purchasing and distribution advantages
- Diversified geographic footprint across developed and emerging markets reduces reliance on any single region
- Ongoing premiumization within its brand portfolio has supported margin improvement over time
- Diversified beyond-beer portfolio spanning hard seltzer and hard tea provides multiple growth avenues within a single company
- Strong distributor relationships built over decades support shelf placement across the U.S. beer and beyond-beer category
- Debt-free balance sheet provides financial flexibility to invest in new product innovation
- Balance sheet leverage remains elevated relative to many consumer staples peers following past acquisitions
- Beer volume growth in mature developed markets has faced long-term consumption headwinds
- Currency translation from its large emerging market exposure can create earnings volatility
- Hard seltzer and flavored malt beverage categories have shown significant volatility in consumer demand trends
- Smaller scale relative to global brewing giants limits purchasing and international distribution advantages
- Concentrated U.S. revenue exposure limits geographic diversification relative to larger global beer peers
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