It’s been a monster rally for one beverage stock.
Monster Beverage, which sells its eponymous energy drinks, has rocketed more than 68,000 percent higher over the past 20 years, crushing the 200 percent gain by PepsiCo and 40 percent increase by Coca-Cola.
Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management, said those heady days of growth are long gone.
“I think it’s a good steady company but I think the halcyon days of growth are way behind it,” Schlossberg said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Trading Nation.” “The stock actually peaked at the start of January 2018.”
Monster hit a record high of just over $70 in January of last year. It is down more than 17 percent since then.
“On top of that, I think it faces a couple if interesting hurdles that could be problematic,” Schlossberg added. “The soda industry could be facing the kind of medical examination that the tobacco industry has faced which has been a very big problem.”
Tobacco stocks have come under pressure in recent months as the Food and Drug Administration explores restrictions on vaping products. In the past year, Phillip Morris has fallen 16 percent, while British American Tobacco is down 36 percent.
“So, while the stock is doing well and I think the growth remains relatively steady, it’s by no means the kind of monster stock that it used to be before,” Schlossberg said.
Mark Tepper, president and CEO of Strategic Wealth Partners, said the stock is one of the few consumer staples names that has some energy behind it.
“When you look at consumer staples in general there’s really just not a lot to be excited about. A lot of these companies are trading at multiples of over 20 and they’re expecting growth in the low to mid single digits. Monster is the exception to that rule,” Tepper said Tuesday on “Trading Nation.”
Analysts expect Monster to post 20 percent earnings growth for fiscal 2018, up from 13 percent for 2017. For calendar year 2019, the XLP consumer staples ETF is projected to report 2 percent earnings growth. Monster is scheduled to announce fourth-quarter earnings after the bell Wednesday.
However, the company needs to keep evolving or it faces big challenges, Tepper said.
“My concern is that the global compound growth over the next decade for energy drinks is only 6 percent per year so they’re going to have to think outside the box,” he said. “They’ve got a really strong balance sheet so maybe they partner with a cannabis company … and they can really take growth to the next level, kind of like you’ve seen with Constellation Brands.”
Alcohol company Constellation Brands has made big moves into the cannabis world in the past few years, including upping its stake in Canadian marijuana company Canopy Growth. It’s expected to report 2018 earnings growth of 8 percent.
