Constellation Brands CEO Talks New Corona Hard Seltzer, 'Pretty Good' Q1

Alcohol company Constellation Brands, Inc. STZ has certainly felt its share of headwinds as of late, but it didn't "stop us from having a pretty good quarter," CEO Bill Newlands said on CNBC's "Mad Money."

Constellation's Shift To Off-Premise: Constellation reported first-quarter results Wednesday that were highlighted by  20% growth in off-premise sales, Newlands said.

The on-premise category as a whole declined by 75% — but the CEO said investors shouldn't necessarily be worried.

Constellation is over-indexed or overweighted to the off-premise arena and continues to benefit from consumers shifting their habits away from bars, restaurants and other venues, he said. 

Corona Hard Seltzer: The recently launched Corona Hard Seltzer already ranks as the fourth seltzer player, with a 6% IRI market share in the U.S., according to the company's earnings report.

To date, the company has shipped more than 3.5 million cases of Corona Hard Seltzer, 90% of which were incremental to Constellation Brands' revenue, the CEO said.

Looking forward, Constellation expects to ship 10 million cases in the full fiscal year." 

"We are just scratching the surface, so we think the ceiling is pretty high."

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