One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$5.67 our estimate vs market $2.99
Wall Street consensus: $3.34 (-41.1% lower than our fair-value estimate)
47% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Ambev S.A.
ABEV · NYQ · Consumer Defensive · Beverages - Brewers
Current price
$2.99
52-week range
$2.10 - $3.45
Market cap
$46.10B
Balance sheet
Healthy
8.20x Adequate
Net cash $2.99B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
2 Risks
3 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Returns 18.4% on equity, ahead of 66% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 4/10 years.
- Risk Stock trades 461.1% above its 5-year average P/E.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 0.0% (peer median: 0.1%).
What this company does
Ambev S.A.
Ambev is one of the largest beverage companies in the Americas, making its money by producing and selling well-known beers like Skol, Brahma, and Presidente. The company sells these drinks mainly in Latin America through an extensive supply chain (the network of warehouses, trucks, and stores that get products to customers). Because many of its brands are local favorites that people buy regularly, the company often enjoys steady and predictable sales.
How the company got here
Ambev's story begins with the 1999 merger of two historic Brazilian breweries, Brahma and Antarctica, which were founded back in the 1880s. This combination created a dominant beverage company in Brazil. A key turning point came in 2004 when Ambev merged with Belgium's Interbrew, creating a global powerhouse that would later become Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer. This move gave Ambev's brands international reach and brought global brands into its home markets. Over the years, Ambev expanded aggressively across Latin America, acquiring local brewers and distributors to solidify its presence in countries like Argentina, Bolivia, and across the Caribbean.
What it actually does
Ambev is in the business of making, distributing, and selling a wide variety of drinks. Most people know them for their popular beers, such as Skol, Brahma, Antarctica, and international names like Budweiser, Stella Artois, and Corona. Beyond beer, Ambev also has a large non-alcoholic beverage business, thanks to a long-standing partnership with PepsiCo. This means they bottle and sell well-known soft drinks like Pepsi, Gatorade, and Lipton Iced Tea, as well as their own local favorites like Guaraná Antarctica. The company sells these products to a massive network of supermarkets, local retailers, and bars.
Brazil
This is Ambev's home turf and its largest and most important business area, making up more than half of the company's sales. It's broken down into two parts: beer and non-alcoholic beverages. The beer business is the main driver, featuring some of Brazil's most popular and recognized brands like Brahma, Skol, and Antarctica. The non-alcoholic side sells soft drinks, juices, and teas, with the famous Guaraná Antarctica and Pepsi products being major sellers. Essentially, almost any bar, restaurant, or supermarket in Brazil will be a customer of this segment.
Latin America South (LAS)
This segment covers Ambev's operations in countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chile, representing a significant chunk of the company's business. In these markets, Ambev sells both its well-known Brazilian beer brands and strong local brands it has acquired, such as Quilmes in Argentina. This part of the business makes money by producing and selling a portfolio of beers and other drinks tailored to local tastes. It is a major contributor to the company's overall revenue (the total money earned from sales), second only to Brazil.
Central America and Caribbean (CAC)
This division operates in numerous countries including the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Panama, and other Caribbean islands. Here, Ambev sells popular local beers like Presidente in the Dominican Republic, along with its other international brands. While smaller than the Brazil or Latin America South segments, it's an important area for growth. Customers range from large hotel chains and resorts that cater to tourists to small local shops serving neighborhood residents.
Canada
Represented by the famous Labatt Brewing Company, this segment is Ambev's foothold in North America. Labatt produces and sells its own iconic Canadian beers, like Labatt Blue and Alexander Keith's, and also brews and distributes global brands from the Anheuser-Busch InBev family, such as Budweiser. This part of the business is a steady and profitable piece of the company, though it makes up a smaller portion of total sales compared to the Latin American operations. Its main customers are provincial liquor boards, beer stores, and grocery chains across Canada.
What management is betting on now
The company is heavily focused on 'premiumization,' which means encouraging customers to buy more of its higher-priced, higher-quality beers like Corona and Stella Artois. This strategy is important because these premium brands have better margins (the profit made on each dollar of sales). Management is also investing heavily in its digital platforms, like an app called BEES, which helps small retailers order products more efficiently. Another key priority is expanding its portfolio beyond just beer, growing its non-alcoholic and 'beyond beer' categories to capture changing consumer tastes.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $5.67 vs current price $2.99
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $3.34 (-41.1% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $5.67 a share — about 89.6% above today's price of $2.99, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net cash $3.0B - more cash than debt. Interest coverage 8.2x.
Net debt
$-2.99B
Interest coverage
8.20x
Ambev S.A.'s profit covers its interest bill about 8.2 times over. which is stronger than every peer shown here.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
ABEV
BASELINE
Ambev S.A.
Total debt $572.39M Interest coverage 8.20x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $72.73B Interest coverage 4.05x -51% vs ABEV Carries about 2.0x less debt cushion than ABEV.
Total debt $10.53B Interest coverage 7.92x -3% vs ABEV Has roughly the same debt cushion as ABEV.
Total debt $22.20B Interest coverage 2.94x -64% vs ABEV Carries about 2.8x less debt cushion than ABEV.
Total debt $7.91B Interest coverage 6.58x -20% vs ABEV Carries about 1.2x less debt cushion than ABEV.
Total debt $23.66B Interest coverage 5.17x -37% vs ABEV Carries about 1.6x less debt cushion than ABEV.
What you should know
The case for and against ABEV
3 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Returns 18.4% on equity, ahead of 66% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 4/10 years.
-
Trades at 14.9x P/E vs peer median 17.3x (13.4% cheaper).
Risks
-
Stock trades 461.1% above its 5-year average P/E.
-
Insider ownership is only 0.0% (peer median: 0.1%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
14.95x
Forward P/E
13.95x
P/B
2.68x
P/S
0.52x
EV/EBITDA
1.17x
PEG ratio
1.93x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
51.9%
Operating margin
23.7%
Net margin
18.4%
ROE
18.4%
ROA
10.3%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.03x
Current ratio
1.02x
Quick ratio
0.67x
Total debt
$572.39M
Total cash
$3.56B
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$17.13B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
3.4%
EPS TTM
0.20
EPS 5Y CAGR
0.0%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$4.75B
Free CF TTM
$3.85B
FCF margin
22.5%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
5.3%
Payout ratio
77.0%
Last ex-div date
2026-09-23