AB InBev: Volume Decline Was A Choice, Not A Curse
Beer volumes are picking up, while margins are growing
Q2 2026: beer volume up 1.1%, EBITDA margin up to 35.6%, net debt down to 2.86x EBITDA, EPS up 23.4%.
Beer volumes at AB InBev grew 1.1% in the second quarter of 2026.
That single number matters more than the 5.6% organic revenue growth sitting above it in the press release. For years, the largest brewer in the world ran on price and mix, not volume. Revenue rose while cases sold stayed flat or fell. Investors tolerated it because the margin held. It was value extraction dressed up as strategy, and it worked, until the balance sheet stopped leaving room for anything else.
This quarter the volume came back. And the margin held anyway.
