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Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV

It brews and sells beer and other drinks to people around the world.

Anheuser-Busch InBev is the biggest beer company on the planet. It sells hundreds of brands, from Budweiser and Stella Artois to Corona and Modelo, and it makes money every time someone buys a cold one at a bar, a ballgame, or a grocery store. Its customers are basically anyone of drinking age, but its real paying partners are the stores, bars, and distributors that stock its shelves. The company is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, but its reach is truly global, with huge operations across the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Think of it as the world's biggest bartender, but instead of one bar, it owns thousands of different taps. Its business splits into a few main pieces. Beer is the core, bringing in the vast majority of revenue. Within that, the company has "global brands" like Budweiser, Stella Artois, and Corona that it pushes everywhere, and "local champions" like Brahma in Brazil or Cass in South Korea that win in specific countries. Beyond beer, it has a growing "beyond beer" segment that includes hard seltzers, canned cocktails, and non-alcoholic brews, which is a small but fast-growing slice of the pie. It also owns a big chunk of the world's beer distribution, which means it often controls not just what you drink but how it gets to you.

The company makes money through sheer scale. Brewing is a low-margin, high-volume game, so AB InBev uses its enormous size to buy barley, hops, and aluminum cheaper than almost anyone else, then sells billions of liters a year. It has spent the last two decades buying up rivals — most famously SABMiller in 2016, a deal that made it the undisputed king of beer. That acquisition also loaded the company with a mountain of debt, so a big chunk of its free cash flow goes toward paying that down. It also pays a dividend and buys back shares to keep shareholders happy. The tricky part today is that younger people are drinking less beer and more spirits, seltzers, and non-alcoholic options, so AB InBev is racing to adapt by pushing new products and premium brands that cost more and taste better.

Saved answer · last researched 11 Oct 2026