Anheuser-Busch profit in US sinks nearly 30%, loses $37B in value after Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney fiasco

Anheuser-Busch InBev felt the sting of the Bud Light boycott, reporting a 10.5% drop in revenue and a nearly 30% plunge in core profit in the US during the second quarter — and has lost nearly $40 billion in value.

Yet the the Belgian-based beer giant continued to bury its head over the ill-fated tie-up with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney that has seen Bud Light on the precipice of losing its two-decade reign as the top-selling brand in the US.

The company made no mention of the costly backlash in Thursday’s earnings report, instead pointing analysts to its own survey that showed “most consumers are favorable towards the Bud Light brand and approximately 80% are favorable or neutral.”

The survey of over 170,000 consumers was conducted across the US during the three-month period ended June 30 — in the throes of the outrage that began after Mulvaney featured a custom can of Bud Light sent the 26-year-old to celebrate her “365 Days of Girlhood” on April 1.

The largest beer company in the world blamed the whopping core profit loss in the US — which accounts for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — on “the volume decline of Bud Light” as well as “increased sales and marketing investments.”

In the wake of Bud Light’s “woke” advert, Anheuser-Busch has lost nearly $37 in market value. On March 31 — the day before Mulvaney’s disastrous social media campaign — AB InBev had a market cap of $134.5 billion. As of Thursday, that figure plummeted to $97.74 billion.

The boycott has spilled over into Anheuser-Busch’s other brands like Budweiser and Busch Light, with sales-to-retailers declining by 14% in the US, the company reported. Bud Light was overtaken by Modelo Especial as the top selling beer in May, The Post previously reported.

The Post has reached out to AB InBev for comment.

Despite the gloomy US outlook, the company reported a 7.2% increase in revenue during Q2, with profits after EBITDA increasing 5%.

AB InBev said net revenue in the three months to June 30 climbed to $15.12 billion from $14.79 billion in the same period last year. Net profit dropped to $339 million from $1.6 billion after taking a hit tied to shares issues.

The company was boosted by soaring sales in Brazil, China and Colombia, where earnings gained more than 20% in the second quarter.

That is little consolation to Anheuser-Busch distributors in the US, who have given up on luring back disaffected customers, as The Post exclusively reported this week.

“Consumers have made a choice,” an executive at a Texas-based beer distributor who did not want to be identified told The Post. “They have left [Bud Light] and that’s how it’s going to be. I don’t envision a big percentage of them coming back.”

Winning the beer wars comes down to “whoever is best at marketing,” the executive added.

Since its disastrous promotion, Bud Light has released new ads that boast all-American themes like country music and sports.

Last month, Bud Light tweeted “Let’s goooooo” in support of the US Women’s National Soccer Team, though still-furious consumers quickly shouted down the display of patriotic pride

“Women’s? Or just whomever says they are women?” one user replied.

Another warned: “Don’t drag them down with you!”

Bud Light also released a 15-second ad spot on YouTube ahead of July 4 starring Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl-winning star Travis Kelce, though it didn’t save the embattled brand’s sales from tanking over America’s biggest beer-drinking holiday.

Despite the ongoing backlash, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth has been tight-lipped on the Bud Light-Mulvaney partnership, dodging questions on a CBS interview about whether might work with the transgender influencer again.

AB InBev CEO Michel Doukeris even tried to disavow the company’s ties to Mulvaney during an earnings call with investors in May, calling it “one post and not a campaign” before decrying the “misinformation” spread on social media.