Anheuser-Busch InBev Set for Payday as Beer Flows from the World Cup

For reasons ranging from young people moving away from bars and pubs towards less alcohol-centric forms of socializing to people possibly being traumatized for life by the abomination that is a Bud Light Clamato Chelada, beer and alcohol consumption has been on a slow, steady decline. According to alcohol industry data provider IWSR, global beer sales volumes fell by 1% last year while selling for a slightly higher overall value.

Belgian-American Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer and producer of megabrands like Corona, Bud Light, and Stella Artois, bucked the trend when it reported earnings last month. As the official beer sponsor of the World Cup, analysts say it’s about to get another lift as fans spend the next five weeks variously celebrating their victories and drowning their sorrows in officially sanctioned Budweiser and Michelob Ultra.

An Unsung Hero Emerges

AB-InBev’s earnings last year looked like an exaggerated version of global trends. Total sales volume fell 2.3% year-over-year, with beer volumes down 2.6%, but management offset the decline by hiking prices. This, along with slashing costs, helped fuel a 14% jump in earnings to $8.5 billion even while revenue declined just 0.7% to $59.3 billion.

Last month, however, the company turned expectations on their head, like a red solo cup at the edge of a frat table party during a round of flip cup. The brewer posted a 0.8% organic volume increase in the first three months of 2026, defying Wall Street predictions of a 0.3% decline. Record beer volumes in key Latin American markets, namely Mexico, Columbia and Brazil, outweighed declines in North America. This is all before these and other soccer-happy markets get the chance to drink themselves into a Messi-inspired messy stupor, which analysts at investment bank Jefferies has put AB-InBev “in the sweet spot to benefit from FIFA upside”:

• This year’s tournament schedule was designed for boozing, with Jefferies observing that “match timing is the unsung hero of World Cup beer consumption.” They estimated that 84% of games line up within the beer-friendly times of 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. for the participating countries.
• AB InBev’s American depository receipts are already up 21.7% this year on the Nasdaq in 2026. Jefferies expects the World Cup will lift industry volumes by 0.3% for the year, adding: “After five successive years of volatility, beer should be better in 2026.” 

On Home Turf: As co-host nations, the US, Canada and Mexico can expect their people to guzzle more than their fair share of the extra billion pints on order. Looking at previous World Cups, Jefferies said beer sales during the tournament period rose 2.6% for hosts Germany in 2006 and South Africa in 2010, 4.8% in Brazil in 2014, 5.3% in Russia in 2018, and 26% in Qatar in 2022.