Beer Stocks Pull Back from 52-Week Highs (TAP, BUD, ABV, SAM, CCU, FMX)

Beer stocks have pulled back in the past few days, several of them from at or near 52-week highs. It would be easy to point to Tuesday's disappointing first-quarter results from Molson Coors TAP, blamed on rising costs and flat sales. But others, including Anheuser-Busch InBev BUD, have also reported underwhelming sales, especially in major markets Brazil and the United States. Molson Coors has seen the biggest drop though—nearly 10% since April 28. SABMiller (SBMRY) also announced Wednesday the retirement of its chief financial officer. Its share price is down more than 3% since April 29. Heineken (HINKY), however, hasn't yet seen much of a pullback; the stock was down less than 2% on Thursday. Heineken announced this week that it would acquire two Ethiopian breweries. Like other brewers, Heineken has seen strong growth in Africa. Other beer stocks that have seen a recent pullback include AmBev ABV, Boston Beer SAM, Compania Cervecerias Unidas CCU and Fomento Economico Mexicano FMX. While the share prices of Boston Beer and Molson Coors have fallen in the past three months, shares of Anheuser-Busch, Compania Cervecerias Unidas, Fomento Economico Mexicano, Heineken and SABMiller are up between 7% and 16% in that time, outperforming the broader market.