Diamonds and Dogs

3/29/18

Time to celebrate. Constellation Brands (STZ) is up 3% not far from all-time highs following better than expected earnings thanks to strong demand for its Corona and Modelo beers and premium wines. Rising demand for premium wines and imported beers in the United States as well as a growing Hispanic population, a key demographic for the company, helped expand its customer base. Beer sales, which accounts for about 77 percent of the net sales, rose nearly 12 percent to $997.2 million in the quarter.

To meet the higher demand, Constellation said it would spend about $900 million to expand its brewery south of the border in Ciudad Oberon in fiscal 2019. The company also raised their dividend 42% and increased their dividend payout ratio target to 30%.

Facebook is rebounding, but former partner, Acxiom Corp (ACXM) is down 31% as Facebook said it would end its partnerships with several large data brokers who help advertisers target people on the social network including Acxiom. Facebook is under pressure to improve how it manages data after disclosing that information on about 50 million Facebook users wrongly ended up in the hands of political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. Facebook's website lists nine third-party data providers that it has worked with, including Acxiom, Experian PLC, Oracle Data Cloud, TransUnion and WPP PLC.