CluenexBoston Beer Company SAM
Boston Beer Company scores average on business quality (5.0 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What Boston Beer Company does
Boston Beer Company brews and sells craft beer, hard seltzer, and malt beverages, charging wholesale distributors for brands like Samuel Adams and Truly. Americans drinking less beer forces the company to push new ready-to-drink cocktails and coolers to ignite sales.
- What it does best
Gross margin sits at 49.3%, crushing TAP's 37.0% through strong brand pricing power in the craft and premium beverage space.
- The main risk
Midsize brewers face a brutal demand slump as Americans drink less, dragging revenue down 2.4% as volume and new cocktail lines struggle to gain traction.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Net margin sits at -3.6% with an operating margin of 6.1%, dragged down by losses that leave return on equity at -8.9%.
Brand heritage creates consumer loyalty, reflected in a gross margin ranking in the top quartile of its sector at the 72nd percentile.
Revenue fell 2.4% to $1.9B, continuing a multi-year slide from $2.1B in 2022 as core volumes fade.
Debt is practically zero with $223M in cash and a net debt of -$222M, while free cash flow hits $206M: the balance sheet is ironclad.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Our sealed record on SAM
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
Boston Beer Company scores average on the Cluenex quality check (5.0 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is weak, moat fair, growth slow and financial health strong.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Oct 22, 2026, after the close.
See SAM today
- Today's verdict on SAM, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “Boston Beer Company (SAM)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/sam/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.