Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (BUD – Free Report), alias AB InBev, reported first-quarter 2018 results, wherein earnings lagged estimates while sales topped. This marked the company’s return to the negative earnings surprise trend, after recording a beat in the preceding quarter. With this, the company delivered negative earnings surprise in eight of the last nine quarters. Moreover, revenues surpassed estimates for the second straight quarter, reflecting a beat in four of the last six quarters.

Overall, shares of AB InBev have lost 9.3% in the past month, wider than the industry’s decline of 5.6%.

Q1 Highlights

Normalized earnings per share of 73 cents declined from 74 cents in the year-ago quarter. The bottom line also lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 79 cents.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Quote

Revenues improved 1.2% to $13,073 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $12,829 million. The company registered organic revenue growth of 4.7%, courtesy of 5.3% rise in revenues per hectoliter (hl) on a constant-geographic basis. The increase stemmed from ongoing revenue management initiatives along with the strong performance of premium brands. Also, revenues per hl advanced 4.9% on a reported basis.

Consolidated revenues at the company’s three global brands — Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois — improved 7.9% globally and 12.2% outside home markets.

Total volumes dipped 0.2% with own-beer volumes rising 0.5%, offset by a 6.9% decline in non-beer volumes. Own-beer volumes gained from growth in Mexico, Colombia and Argentina, partly mitigated by softness in the United States and Brazil. On the other hand, non-beer volumes were mainly hurt by the weakness in Brazil and Peru.

Cost of sales dropped 4.6% year over year to $4,988 million while the same rose 1.3% organically. Further, cost of sales per hl grew 1.5%. On a constant-geographic basis, cost of sales per hl increased 2.4%.