BROWN FORMAN CORP (BF-B)

Brown-Forman Corporation manufactures, distills, bottles, imports, exports, markets and sells a wide range of beverage alcohol products under recognized brands. It was incorporated in Delaware in 1933 as successor to a business founded in 1870, and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. It employs about 4,900 people on six continents, including about 1,900 in the United States. According to IWSR, it is the largest American-owned premium-plus spirits company. The Brown family owns more than 50% of its voting stock, so it is a "controlled company" under NYSE rules.

The company has a portfolio of more than 40 spirit and ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail brands, and it reports a single segment. Its most important brand is Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, the top-selling American whiskey in the world, along with a family of Jack Daniel's flavored, aged, single barrel, bonded and RTD expressions. Other principal brands include Woodford Reserve, Old Forester, Gentleman Jack, King of Kentucky, Herradura and el Jimador tequilas, the New Mix RTD, Diplomático rums, Gin Mare, Chambord, Fords Gin, Slane Irish Whiskey, and The Glendronach, Benriach and Glenglassaugh Scotch whiskies. Marketing investments include media advertising, consumer and trade promotions, sponsorships and distillery visitor center programs. Intellectual property, especially trademarks, is essential to the business.

Products are sold in over 170 countries. The United States accounted for 42% of net sales in fiscal 2026, followed by Mexico (8%), Germany (6%), Australia (5%) and the United Kingdom (4%). In the U.S., the company sells to distributors or to state governments in control states, which then sell to retailers and consumers. It is carrying out a multi-year overhaul of its U.S. distribution network, with new distributors in 25 markets. Outside the U.S., it owns distribution companies in 17 markets, including Australia, Germany, Mexico, Japan and the United Kingdom. It relies on third-party distributors in many other markets and sells to provincial governments in Canada. The largest customer accounted for about 10% of fiscal 2026 net sales. The fourth calendar quarter is the peak season.

The principal raw materials include agave, barley, corn, malted barley, molasses, rye, sugar, water and wood, plus packaging such as glass bottles, aluminum cans, cartons, closures and labels. Whiskeys, certain tequilas, rums and other spirits must be aged, so inventories are large relative to sales. The company competes mainly at premium-and-above price points against global spirits companies such as Bacardi, Becle, Campari, Diageo, LVMH Moët Hennessy, Pernod Ricard, Rémy Cointreau and Suntory Global Spirits, as well as national and craft brands. Its operations are subject to extensive federal, state and foreign regulation of production, distribution, marketing and taxation of alcohol.