Showing no signs of slowing down, the energy drink industry posted more than $57 billion in sales in 2020, and is expected to grow by 7% through 2025.
What is driving this growth? One factor that cannot be overlooked is the growing options available to consumers. The high adoption of the beverage by young people may be fueled by factors such as:
· Lower calorie options
· More palatable and varied flavors
· “Softer” brands that engage a different audience
· Energy drinks that overlap with the growing seltzer category
There are five energy drink stocks that could give your portfolio a much needed boost.
Golden Grail Beverages (OTCMKTS: GOGY) offers consumers a variety of beverage brands. Its flavored water and sparkling flavored water brands (Cause, Tickle, and Trevi Essence) are just a few of GOGY’s acquired brands. The also boast two distinct energy drink brands: Spider Energy and Scorpion HEMP Energy.
Golden Grail Beverages (OTCMKTS: GOGY) strategy is to acquire struggling beverage brands and remake them to fit contemporary trends. The strategy has worked well for GOGY and has led them to acquire multiple brands in the last year. The acquisition that may be of the greatest help to GOGY is not a beverage brand at all. Industry insider and expert Erin Heit—who has worked with Vitamin Water, Fuze, and Celsius to name a few brands—has joined GOGY with the goal of helping them execute its restaging strategy with its current and future brands.
GOGY has spent much of 2022 in the headlines—and for good reason.
· GOGY has contracted a co-packer and acquiring its Cause brand water
· Added the acquired Tickle brand’s Creative Director to its team
· Is following through on its commitment to ESG by focusing on shareholder value and moving to more environmentally sustainable packaging
For these reasons, Golden Grail Beverages (OTCMKTS: GOGY) has gained bullish momentum, however, its many potential catalysts are reasons investors should put GOGY on their watchlist today.
GOGY is following in the footsteps of energy drink goliath, Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST), who currently sits atop the energy drink mountain, with perhaps only Red Bull as a true challenger for the throne.
Even with an estimated 39% share of the energy drink market, Monster has seen a tumble in its stock price in the four months of 2022. Starting the year at $96.54 per share, Monster’s stock price ended the week at just $81.62. Whether it’s the increased competition from smaller brands or supply chain issues, investors have been soft on Monster as of late.
But in the midst of this devaluing of the beverage giant, some analysts are left wondering if the stock is, in fact, undervalued. A strong balance sheet may be enough to lure investors back to the table as Monster continues its advance through the increasingly active 2022 energy drink battlefield.
Celsius Holdings (OTCMKTS: CELH) has found its place in the market as the provider of fruit-flavored canned sparkling energy drinks. While not the traditional energy drink, CELH is reaching the Gen X and Millennial markets, which are buying more energy drinks and creating more demand for seltzers and seltzer-style beverages.
Meeting the demand for this hybrid-style energy drink/seltzer beverage has proven to be a wise move for the firm. In fact, sales in 2021 were up more than 140% over its 2020 sales. And it’s not as if 2020 sales were lagging, in fact 2020 sales were up 74% over 2019 numbers.
Has sales growth translated to strength and growth in the stock price?
Rebounding from a 2022 low in late January ($40.49), CELH’s stock is up some 25% to $50.03 per share.
A growing trend within the beverage industry seems to be finding its home among energy and performance drinks. Hemp-based and hemp-infused energy drink brands are having their day. One such firm, Kona Gold (OTCMKTS: KGKG) is turning the trend into higher shareholder value.
Through its Kona Gold product, with roughly 8 different flavors to choose from, KGKG is helping to energize its customers and add a spark of growth to its investors’ portfolios.
As a matter of fact, investors who bought Kona in early 2022 saw their holdings grow from $0.0068 per share to $.0211—including a 25% jump to close out last Friday.
Finally, Rockstar Energy Drink have the largest share of the market, it does have a pretty impressive parent company. PepsiCo (Nasdaq: PEP) acquired the brand in 2020 for $3.85 billion. With an estimated 0.3% of the non-alcoholic beverage market, Rockstar is a formidable player in the beverage industry, especially when paired with its parent company and distributor.
Clearly Pepsi saw promise in the Rockstar brand when it fully acquired it. It is important to point out that Coca Cola (Nasdaq: KO) owns 20% of Monster, but the two firms are separate and trade under their own symbols. That is not the case with Rockstar and PepsiCo. As PepsiCo rises, so follow Rockstar, and vice versa. PepsiCo has grown its stock price from $142 per share to more than $173 as of Friday’s closing bell. Investors who are interested in the beverage industry, but still feel some trepidation could find some solace in the well-diversified operations of PepsiCo.
Seeing that the space is ripe for rollup opportunity, investors in brands like Golden Grail Beverages (OTCMKTS: GOGY), KGKG, or CELH could one day find themselves with a healthy dividend payment.
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