Why Boston Beer (SAM) is a Top Value Stock for the Long-Term

Donald Trump‘s 2024 presidential election win put several sectors in the spotlight, including alcohol stocks.

What Happened: Some people watched the outcome of election night on television from their home. Others likely scrolled along with social media on their phone. Some attended watch parties with friends and families, similar to a Super Bowl party or one for Nvidia's quarterly earnings.

Regardless of who voters wanted to win — Trump or Kamala Harris — they may have bought more alcohol for Election Day this year, at least in New York, with liquor stores reporting a busy day.

One liquor store told the New York Post they were three to four times busier than a regular weekday on Election Day with heavy sales coming in the early afternoon and around 5 p.m. ET. An employee from Brooklyn's Juice Box liquor store told the Post there was also a noticeable trend from many customers.

"People were buying sparkling wine and a bottle of liquor for both (outcomes)," the employee said.

Employees from other New York stores noticed the same trend. Customers were either buying one type of alcohol for a happy outcome or one for a negative outcome.

"I have no idea if people will be drowning their sorrows or celebrating," the Juice Box employee added.

Did You Know?

• Congress Is Making Huge Investments. Get Tips On What They Bought And Sold Ahead Of The 2024 Election With Our Easy-to-Use Tool

Why It's Important: While it is only one day of the year, Election Day 2024 could provide a short bump for alcohol stocks like Diageo Plc and Constellation Brands . Beer stocks like Anheuser-Busch InBev , Boston Beer Company and Molson Coors Beverage Company may have also benefitted from Election Day.

Alcohol may be a coping or celebratory item for Election Day in the U.S., but in India the country has dry days of no alcohol around their elections with residents unable to drink for 48 hours before the vote, on election day or as the vote is being totaled.

Read Next:

• Will Trump Be Sentenced In Hush Money Trial Or Will His ‘Criminal Problems Go Away’?

Image: Shutterstock

© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

It doesn't matter your age or experience: taking full advantage of the stock market and investing with confidence are common goals for all investors. Luckily, Zacks Premium offers several different ways to do both.

The popular research service can help you become a smarter, more self-assured investor, giving you access to daily updates of the Zacks Rank and Zacks Industry Rank, the Zacks #1 Rank List, Equity Research reports, and Premium stock screens.

It also includes access to the Zacks Style Scores.

What are the Zacks Style Scores?

The Zacks Style Scores, developed alongside the Zacks Rank, are complementary indicators that rate stocks based on three widely-followed investing methodologies; they also help investors pick stocks with the best chances of beating the market over the next 30 days.

Each stock is assigned a rating of A, B, C, D, or F based on their value, growth, and momentum characteristics. Just like in school, an A is better than a B, a B is better than a C, and so on -- that means the better the score, the better chance the stock will outperform.

The Style Scores are broken down into four categories:

Value Score

Finding good stocks at good prices, and discovering which companies are trading under their true value, are what value investors like to focus on. So, the Value Style Score takes into account ratios like P/E, PEG, Price/Sales, Price/Cash Flow, and a host of other multiples to highlight the most attractive and discounted stocks.

Growth Score

Growth investors are more concerned with a stock's future prospects, and the overall financial health and strength of a company. Thus, the Growth Style Score analyzes characteristics like projected and historic earnings, sales, and cash flow to find stocks that will see sustainable growth over time.

Momentum Score

Momentum investors, who live by the saying "the trend is your friend," are most interested in taking advantage of upward or downward trends in a stock's price or earnings outlook. Utilizing one-week price change and the monthly percentage change in earnings estimates, among other factors, the Momentum Style Score can help determine favorable times to buy high-momentum stocks.

VGM Score

If you like to use all three kinds of investing, then the VGM Score is for you. It's a combination of all Style Scores, and is an important indicator to use with the Zacks Rank. The VGM Score rates each stock on their shared weighted styles, narrowing down the companies with the most attractive value, best growth forecast, and most promising momentum.

How Style Scores Work with the Zacks Rank

The Zacks Rank, which is a proprietary stock-rating model, employs earnings estimate revisions, or changes to a company's earnings expectations, to make building a winning portfolio easier.

Investors can count on the Zacks Rank's success, with #1 (Strong Buy) stocks producing an unmatched +25.41% average annual return since 1988, more than double the S&P 500's performance. But the model rates a large number of stocks, and there are over 200 companies with a Strong Buy rank, plus another 600 with a #2 (Buy) rank, on any given day.

With more than 800 top-rated stocks to choose from, it can certainly feel overwhelming to pick the ones that are right for you and your investing journey.

That's where the Style Scores come in.

You want to make sure you're buying stocks with the highest likelihood of success, and to do that, you'll need to pick stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2 that also have Style Scores of A or B. If you like a stock that only as a #3 (Hold) rank, it should also have Scores of A or B to guarantee as much upside potential as possible.

As mentioned above, the Scores are designed to work with the Zacks Rank, so any change to a company's earnings outlook should be a deciding factor when picking which stocks to buy.

For instance, a stock with a #4 (Sell) or #5 (Strong Sell) rating, even one that boasts Scores of A and B, still has a downward-trending earnings forecast, and a much greater likelihood its share price will decline as well.

Thus, the more stocks you own with a #1 or #2 Rank and Scores of A or B, the better.

Stock to Watch: Boston Beer (SAM)

Founded by Jim Koch, Harry M. Rubin, and Lorenzo Lamadrid in Boston, MA in 1984, Boston Beer Co. Inc. is one of the largest craft brewers in the United States. Boston Beer produces beer, malt beverages, and cider products at company-owned breweries and under contract. The company sells alcoholic beverages in the United States, Canada, Europe, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, the Pacific Rim, Mexico, and Central and South America through a formidable network of wholesale distributors.

SAM is a #3 (Hold) on the Zacks Rank, with a VGM Score of A.

Momentum investors should take note of this Consumer Staples stock. SAM has a Momentum Style Score of B, and shares are up 3.7% over the past four weeks.

Two analysts revised their earnings estimate upwards in the last 60 days for fiscal 2024. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $0.25 to $9.97 per share. SAM boasts an average earnings surprise of 154.6%.

With a solid Zacks Rank and top-tier Momentum and VGM Style Scores, SAM should be on investors' short list.

Zacks Investment Research

It doesn't matter your age or experience: taking full advantage of the stock market and investing with confidence are common goals for all investors. Luckily, Zacks Premium offers several different ways to do both.

Featuring daily updates of the Zacks Rank and Zacks Industry Rank, full access to the Zacks #1 Rank List, Equity Research reports, and Premium stock screens, the research service can help you become a smarter, more self-assured investor.

Zacks Premium includes access to the Zacks Style Scores as well.

What are the Zacks Style Scores?

The Zacks Style Scores, developed alongside the Zacks Rank, are complementary indicators that rate stocks based on three widely-followed investing methodologies; they also help investors pick stocks with the best chances of beating the market over the next 30 days.

Each stock is assigned a rating of A, B, C, D, or F based on their value, growth, and momentum characteristics. Just like in school, an A is better than a B, a B is better than a C, and so on -- that means the better the score, the better chance the stock will outperform.

The Style Scores are broken down into four categories:

Value Score

Finding good stocks at good prices, and discovering which companies are trading under their true value, are what value investors like to focus on. So, the Value Style Score takes into account ratios like P/E, PEG, Price/Sales, Price/Cash Flow, and a host of other multiples to highlight the most attractive and discounted stocks.

Growth Score

Growth investors are more concerned with a stock's future prospects, and the overall financial health and strength of a company. Thus, the Growth Style Score analyzes characteristics like projected and historic earnings, sales, and cash flow to find stocks that will see sustainable growth over time.

Momentum Score

Momentum investors, who live by the saying "the trend is your friend," are most interested in taking advantage of upward or downward trends in a stock's price or earnings outlook. Utilizing one-week price change and the monthly percentage change in earnings estimates, among other factors, the Momentum Style Score can help determine favorable times to buy high-momentum stocks.

VGM Score

If you like to use all three kinds of investing, then the VGM Score is for you. It's a combination of all Style Scores, and is an important indicator to use with the Zacks Rank. The VGM Score rates each stock on their shared weighted styles, narrowing down the companies with the most attractive value, best growth forecast, and most promising momentum.

How Style Scores Work with the Zacks Rank

A proprietary stock-rating model, the Zacks Rank utilizes the power of earnings estimate revisions, or changes to a company's earnings outlook, to help investors create a successful portfolio.

It's highly successful, with #1 (Strong Buy) stocks producing an unmatched +25.41% average annual return since 1988. That's more than double the S&P 500. But because of the large number of stocks we rate, there are over 200 companies with a Strong Buy rank, plus another 600 with a #2 (Buy) rank, on any given day.

With more than 800 top-rated stocks to choose from, it can certainly feel overwhelming to pick the ones that are right for you and your investing journey.

That's where the Style Scores come in.

You want to make sure you're buying stocks with the highest likelihood of success, and to do that, you'll need to pick stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2 that also have Style Scores of A or B. If you like a stock that only as a #3 (Hold) rank, it should also have Scores of A or B to guarantee as much upside potential as possible.

The direction of a stock's earnings estimate revisions should always be a key factor when choosing which stocks to buy, since the Scores were created to work together with the Zacks Rank.

A stock with a #4 (Sell) or #5 (Strong Sell) rating, for instance, even one with Scores of A and B, will still have a declining earnings forecast, and a greater chance its share price will fall too.

Thus, the more stocks you own with a #1 or #2 Rank and Scores of A or B, the better.

Stock to Watch: Boston Beer (SAM)

Founded by Jim Koch, Harry M. Rubin, and Lorenzo Lamadrid in Boston, MA in 1984, Boston Beer Co. Inc. is one of the largest craft brewers in the United States. Boston Beer produces beer, malt beverages, and cider products at company-owned breweries and under contract. The company sells alcoholic beverages in the United States, Canada, Europe, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, the Pacific Rim, Mexico, and Central and South America through a formidable network of wholesale distributors.

SAM is a #3 (Hold) on the Zacks Rank, with a VGM Score of A.

It also boasts a Value Style Score of B thanks to attractive valuation metrics like a forward P/E ratio of 30.52; value investors should take notice.

Two analysts revised their earnings estimate upwards in the last 60 days for fiscal 2024. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $0.25 to $9.97 per share. SAM boasts an average earnings surprise of 154.6%.

With a solid Zacks Rank and top-tier Value and VGM Style Scores, SAM should be on investors' short list.

Zacks Investment Research