Latest news with #energyDrink
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UBS Raises Monster (MNST) Price Target, Maintains Neutral Rating
Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) is one of the most profitable consumer stocks to buy now. UBS raised its price target on Monster Beverage Corporation. (NASDAQ:MNST) to $64 from $63 on July 17, maintaining a Neutral rating as the firm continues to take a measured view of the energy drink giant's near-term prospects. The modest adjustment reflects incremental optimism around the company's distribution gains and innovation pipeline, but also suggests limited room for outperformance at current levels. Monster, which has faced intensified competition from new entrants and legacy beverage rivals alike, has been leaning on international expansion and product extensions to maintain momentum. UBS analysts noted that while those initiatives are showing progress, the overall U.S. market has grown more crowded, putting pressure on shelf space and pricing. The company's recent launch of alcoholic offerings under The Beast Unleashed brand has drawn interest, but UBS appears to be waiting for more evidence of meaningful revenue contribution before revising its broader outlook. Monster shares have traded in a relatively tight range over the past quarter, as investors weigh category growth against margin pressures from higher input costs. With the stock hovering below 8.5% of the new target, the neutral call underscores a wait-and-see approach from UBS as the company navigates a shifting competitive landscape. While we acknowledge the potential of MNST as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: Top 10 Healthcare AI Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds and 10 Best Industrial Automation Stocks to Buy for the Next Decade Disclosure: None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Irish Times
03-07-2025
- Irish Times
Dave Hannigan: What kind of characters get Conor McGregor to endorse a product?
Clean up in aisle eight. Picking up groceries at Stop and Shop supermarket last week, I happened upon a new display advertising an obscure energy drink called Bucked Up. The cardboard stand was emblazoned with shots of a bare-chested Conor McGregor , some of them backdropped by the Irish Tricolour. With a Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) belt slung over his shoulder and a can of this elixir in hand, he is described in the branding as MMA champion, the copywriters having somehow forgotten to include the 'ex' prefix in that sentence. Or to mention that he owns a piece of BKFC but has never fought in it. Yet. Bucked Up are one of the main sponsors of the BKFC awfulness and, in case there were any doubts McGregor endorses the product wholeheartedly, his autograph was plastered all over. Like it will be on the many presidential decrees he intends to sign upon reaching Áras an Uachtaráin and swiftly rewriting Bunreacht na hÉireann. The Notorious Buck flavoured cans come in the green and orange livery of the true commercial patriot, with an image of him poised for combat and a promise to deliver 'superior focus' and 'mind-body connection'. No, seriously. READ MORE Amid all the ludicrous claims, no mention that last November the Irishman was found liable in a civil claim for raping Nikita Hand by a jury of his peers at the High Court in Dublin. Perhaps the folks at Bucked Up hadn't heard about the judgment or read the extremely disturbing medical evidence presented when they dreamt up this marketing campaign. Maybe their headquarters in Utah has poor wifi so nobody there knows a woman in Miami filed a similar sexual assault charge stemming from an incident at an NBA game in 2023. Or about the slew of other unseemly incidents where he has ended up, ahem, helping police or gendarmes with their inquiries. Conor McGregor speaking at the White House on St Patrick's Day this year. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images In arguably the most competitive, over-populated corner of the non-alcoholic drinks market, the geniuses at Bucked Up are convinced there are still gullible fools out there willing to purchase something because of McGregor's imprimatur. In 2025. Little wonder they have never cracked the top 15 in terms of nationwide sales. They have put their faith in a poltroon who punched a pensioner in a bar, encouraged his followers to 'evaporate' any Irish property being used to house immigrants and, most recently, was filmed throwing digs at a fella in an Ibiza nightclub. Near enough a decade since he last mattered as a serious athlete, after years of disturbing accusations across five countries, some ad guru believes that Beacon Hotel snarl, that sullied-forever name, can persuade teens to pay $2 for a can of this gut rot. Imagine there must actually have been a meeting where this strategy was conceived, proposed and approved by adults. How? Why? Who? Amazed at this tone-deaf crassness, I stalked the rest of the aisles to see what other athletes are being deployed to flog food and drink to American consumers. I found Coco Gauff , the number-two ranked tennis player in the world, on the front of a box of Wheaties cereal, the most historic and prestigious commercial placement in sport here. Fresh off her second Grand Slam victory at the French Open, where she handled a temper tantrum by her defeated opponent with uncommon grace, the 21-year-old seems like a decent pitch person, even allowing for her early exit from Wimbledon this week. Coco Gauff's early elimination from Wimbledon came as a big surprise this week. Photograph:A former teen prodigy who has spoken eloquently about her mental health struggles, she carries herself in victory and defeat with class and dignity. In honour of a grandmother who was the first African-American student to break the colour barrier at her Florida high school in 1961, Gauff uses her own celebrity to help causes fighting social and racial inequity. Also, small detail. She has never been found liable for sexual assault in a civil trial or been interviewed in global cop shops following lurid incidents involving members of the opposite sex. The same can be said for Arnold Palmer. Nearly a decade since his death, he remains big and beloved enough in these parts to stare down from shelves as the face of Arizona iced tea. Every bottle of the half-tea, half-lemonade flavour comes adorned with shots of him in his pomp, back when his charismatic play earned him the nickname 'The King' and made modern golf into a television staple. More than half a century after his last major victory, the way Palmer's fame has endured is a testament to his character. Then again, he was never found liable for sexual assault against a woman by a jury of his peers. That might have something to do with his popularity too. Aaron Judge in action for the New York Yankees. Photograph:Elsewhere in the supermarket, I came upon special edition bottles of Prime (another putrid energy concoction) with Aaron Judge and his number 99 on every tin. Much classier than the contents, the collectible containers are pinstriped blue like the New York Yankees jersey he has worn with distinction this past nine years. At 6ft 7in, tipping the scales at 127kg, the squeaky clean 33-year-old home-run machine might just be the purest hitter of his generation. A devout Methodist and most definitely not the sort to stumble conveniently upon some bowdlerised version of 'break glass in case of legal emergency' Christianity on his way to court, he remains much sought-after for commercial endorsements. Just like McGregor used to be. You know. Before he became so bucked up.
The Guardian
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Messi drink launch affirms Spanish as new lingua franca at Club World Cup
Javier Zanetti looked suitably awed as he read aloud from the label of a Limon Lime Mas by Messi drink, up on stage at the Chase Stadium VIP reception suite, dressed entirely in silky black tailoring, and looking like an elite hired assassin on his way to the opera, albeit one whose speciality is downing his victims in an ice bucket of the Future Of Hydration. To be fair, Zanetti didn't have many options when it came to striking a tone. A few moments earlier he'd been introduced by a marketing manager who spoke about Lionel Messi's new energy drink in tones of high-performance evangelism, gazing with doe-eyed wonder at the small plastic bottle in his hand and predicting that the 'official hydration partner of the Argentine FA' (water: you're out) would go on not just to make you less thirsty or become a popular choice in petrol stations, but to 'inspire generations'. Here was a guy who has really drunk the Mas. And why not? The Mas by Messi launch was an intoxicating event. Beautiful fragrant people drifted about enjoying the Mas vibes, the Mas buzz, the bottomless Mas shots at the bar ('Try the Berry Mix, sir?'). Reporters and TV crews, the Mas Media, lurked at the fringes. Even the World Cup was here, lending its gravity from behind its bulletproof plinth. Mas does seem a fitting edition to the energy drink pantheon, in that it also tastes like someone has washed a packet of Skittles with sea water and collected it in a plastic skip. But perhaps the most striking thing, all the more so the morning after a distinctly framed Club World Cup opening night, is that it has an excellent name. Mas means more, as in more gas, ever deeper energy levels, and to be fair after spending the first 20 minutes like a man looking for his keys on the beach, Messi did get notably stronger as the night went on. Mas is also the name of the wealthy and useful owners of Inter Miami, Jorge and Jose. It captures in one word Fifa's vision for football, which is basically gluttony, endless growth, the world is not enough. But above all of these things it's good, current and culturally on point because it's Spanish. And the one lesson so far of being around this roided-up Club World Cup is that Spanish is very clearly the lingua franca of this tournament, the language of football in America, and the language of elite football, as we say here, period. This is overwhelmingly a Hispano-Latin-Iberian tournament. And not just because it is based in South Florida, but structurally, economically and demographically. From the US the furore over Trent Alexander-Arnold speaking a few words of Spanish seems doubly parochial. Not just because he now lives in Madrid and works for a Spanish employer. But because that elite tier of football, from players, to coaches to powerbrokers, is also speaking Spanish. The opening game was a massively Spanish/Hispanic/Central-South American affair, not just because 70% of the crowd were in Messi shirts, worn with the kind of event-zeal Americans bring to Halloween costumes or wearing a Pitbull scalp cap to a Pitbull show. The show was Spano-phile. the hype music was Latino club tune. Two days earlier the King of Football himself had delivered a rare video address at the Coral Gables golf club. And of course Gianni Infantino, for whom this was all, naturally, muy importante, spoke in spnissh. This applies just on the numbers. More than 300 South American players are here, a third of those taking part. A startling 105 Argentinian players are involved, 47 of them based outside Argentina. It feels like a moment of coronation for Argentina as the current chief single export power at this level of football. Guardiola‑ism remains, 20 years on, the tactical template for basically all football everywhere, to the extent the language of, even in English, is now Spanish-inflected, managers like Graham Potter and Enzo Maresca indefinably Spanish-styled. Club dressing rooms have long reflected this. Part of Luis Enrique's transformation at Paris Saint-Germain has been to defeat 'the divide', the line between a previous Spanish-speaking mega-cartel and other parts of the squad. Asked to assess Kylian Mbappé's suitability before his move to the French champions Messi himself commented at the time that Mbappé would be fine in Paris because 'he speaks perfect Spanish'. Kalvin Phillips noted that one of the problems he found settling at Manchester City was the fact he didn't speak Spanish, which sounds bizarre until you remember City have seven Spanish-speaking coaches, that John Stones had Spanish lessons to help him forge an understanding in defence, that Erling Haaland taking Spanish lessons even before he joined City was held up an example of his meticulous prep. Learning Spanish is probably the most obvious controllable element for anyone who wishes to make it in elite football now. José Mourinho, the translator, owes his career to his language facility. Infantino carries his mega-fluency like a weapon. There is a note of potential power shift here. Europe's clubs will still dominate this Club World Cup, will scoop most of its $1bn prize pot, taking it back to the Uefa heartlands. The Premier League, which is only really an English entity in its geography, is the master of this process of talent outsourcing, a league so powerful it has in effect contracted out the production of talent and expertise. The Club World Cup may be driven by greed and the lust for power. It does, though, have a grain of a point when Fifa states that it might also become a redistributor of wealth. South America is keen on this tournament because it is a chance to take its own slice of the pie, perhaps even to reverse just a little its status as the production arm of European football, to halt that drift, the talent drain, to retain and develop more, to say, after many years as the colonial talent pool, No Mas.
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Messi drink launch affirms Spanish as new lingua franca at Club World Cup
Javier Zanetti looked suitably awed as he read aloud from the label of a Limon Lime Mas by Messi drink, up on stage at the Chase Stadium VIP reception suite, dressed entirely in silky black tailoring, and looking like an elite hired assassin on his way to the opera, albeit one whose speciality is downing his victims in an ice bucket of the Future Of Hydration. To be fair, Zanetti didn't have many options when it came to striking a tone. A few moments earlier he'd been introduced by a marketing manager who spoke about Lionel Messi's new energy drink in tones of high-performance evangelism, gazing with doe-eyed wonder at the small plastic bottle in his hand and predicting that the 'official hydration partner of the Argentine FA' (water: you're out) would go on not just to make you less thirsty or become a popular choice in petrol stations, but to 'inspire generations'. Here was a guy who has really drunk the Mas. Advertisement Related: Messi shows glimpses of his genius on Fifa's stage of fakery as Club World Cup begins And why not? The Mas by Messi launch was an intoxicating event. Beautiful fragrant people drifted about enjoying the Mas vibes, the Mas buzz, the bottomless Mas shots at the bar ('Try the Berry Mix, sir?'). Reporters and TV crews, the Mas Media, lurked at the fringes. Even the World Cup was here, lending its gravity from behind its bulletproof plinth. Mas does seem a fitting edition to the energy drink pantheon, in that it also tastes like someone has washed a packet of Skittles with sea water and collected it in a plastic skip. But perhaps the most striking thing, all the more so the morning after a distinctly framed Club World Cup opening night, is that it has an excellent name. Mas means more, as in more gas, ever deeper energy levels, and to be fair after spending the first 20 minutes like a man looking for his keys on the beach, Messi did get notably stronger as the night went on. Mas is also the name of the wealthy and useful owners of Inter Miami, Jorge and Jose. It captures in one word Fifa's vision for football, which is basically gluttony, endless growth, the world is not enough. Advertisement But above all of these things it's good, current and culturally on point because it's Spanish. And the one lesson so far of being around this roided-up Club World Cup is that Spanish is very clearly the lingua franca of this tournament, the language of football in America, and the language of elite football, as we say here, period. This is overwhelmingly a Hispano-Latin-Iberian tournament. And not just because it is based in South Florida, but structurally, economically and demographically. From the US the furore over Trent Alexander-Arnold speaking a few words of Spanish seems doubly parochial. Not just because he now lives in Madrid and works for a Spanish employer. But because that elite tier of football, from players, to coaches to powerbrokers, is also speaking Spanish. The opening game was a massively Spanish/Hispanic/Central-South American affair, not just because 70% of the crowd were in Messi shirts, worn with the kind of event-zeal Americans bring to Halloween costumes or wearing a Pitbull scalp cap to a Pitbull show. The show was Spano-phile. the hype music was Latino club tune. Two days earlier the King of Football himself had delivered a rare video address at the Coral Gables golf club. And of course Gianni Infantino, for whom this was all, naturally, muy importante, spoke in spnissh. Advertisement This applies just on the numbers. More than 300 South American players are here, a third of those taking part. A startling 105 Argentinian players are involved, 47 of them based outside Argentina. It feels like a moment of coronation for Argentina as the current chief single export power at this level of football. Guardiola‑ism remains, 20 years on, the tactical template for basically all football everywhere, to the extent the language of, even in English, is now Spanish-inflected, managers like Graham Potter and Enzo Maresca indefinably Spanish-styled. Club dressing rooms have long reflected this. Part of Luis Enrique's transformation at Paris Saint-Germain has been to defeat 'the divide', the line between a previous Spanish-speaking mega-cartel and other parts of the squad. Asked to assess Kylian Mbappé's suitability before his move to the French champions Messi himself commented at the time that Mbappé would be fine in Paris because 'he speaks perfect Spanish'. Kalvin Phillips noted that one of the problems he found settling at Manchester City was the fact he didn't speak Spanish, which sounds bizarre until you remember City have seven Spanish-speaking coaches, that John Stones had Spanish lessons to help him forge an understanding in defence, that Erling Haaland taking Spanish lessons even before he joined City was held up an example of his meticulous prep. Learning Spanish is probably the most obvious controllable element for anyone who wishes to make it in elite football now. José Mourinho, the translator, owes his career to his language facility. Infantino carries his mega-fluency like a weapon. There is a note of potential power shift here. Europe's clubs will still dominate this Club World Cup, will scoop most of its $1bn prize pot, taking it back to the Uefa heartlands. The Premier League, which is only really an English entity in its geography, is the master of this process of talent outsourcing, a league so powerful it has in effect contracted out the production of talent and expertise. The Club World Cup may be driven by greed and the lust for power. It does, though, have a grain of a point when Fifa states that it might also become a redistributor of wealth. South America is keen on this tournament because it is a chance to take its own slice of the pie, perhaps even to reverse just a little its status as the production arm of European football, to halt that drift, the talent drain, to retain and develop more, to say, after many years as the colonial talent pool, No Mas.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Celsius Holdings Stock a Buy Now?
Celsius stock is up over 50% this year. The company acquired competitor Alani Nu in April. Celsius' revenue growth is set to recover, but mostly because of its purchase of Alani Nu. 10 stocks we like better than Celsius › After massive declines in the second half of last year, Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ: CELH) stock may finally be ready for a comeback. The company's rapid growth came to a sudden halt (at least temporarily) as sluggish demand led one of its major distributors (likely PepsiCo) to dramatically scale back its orders. The beverage stock is down over 60% since its peak in early 2024. Still, it is up over 50% since the beginning of the year. The question for investors is whether that recovery signifies the beginnings of a Celsius comeback, or whether investors need to stay on the sidelines. Celsius has carved out a compelling, lucrative niche within the energy drink industry. Instead of pursuing customers like its larger competitors, Red Bull and Monster Beverage, Celsius targeted fitness enthusiasts. It also participated in clinical studies to validate the health benefits of its beverages. Celsius' beverages first became available in 2009. However, it was its distribution agreement with PepsiCo in August 2022 that helped sales take off. Since that agreement in the third quarter of 2022, quarterly revenues have increased by 75% even after the recent slowdown in sales. Additionally, that figure does not account for Celsius' takeover of Alani Nu, which occurred in the second quarter of this year. Before that purchase, Celsius also claimed approximately 11% of the market share, putting it in third place in the energy drink market. Still, investors should remember that it leads the health and fitness-oriented niche in the market, which will likely make it a major force in this industry. Amid the stock's partial recovery, Celsius sells at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 127. Nonetheless, since it is recovering from last year's slump, the forward P/E ratio of 50 may better reflect the company's valuation, a level coming off historical lows. It is also well below the forward P/E ratio of 125 from the stock's peak in early 2024. That forward multiple arguably brings the stock price more in line with its current growth. Unfortunately, investors may still balk at Celsius' valuation as they brace for slower growth. In the first quarter of 2025, revenue of $329 million dropped by 7% yearly. That's a dramatic improvement over the 31% decline in Q3. Still, it is well below the 102% revenue gain in 2023. The falling revenue also led to a comprehensive income in Q1 of $37 million, well below the $63 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenue growth should improve in the near term due in part to the Alani Nu takeover. In 2025, analysts forecast 60% revenue growth. But once Celsius benefits from that one-time bump, they expect the revenue increase rate to slow to 21% in 2026. Knowing that, the most significant hope for bulls may lie in the company's potential internationally, where 96% of the world's population resides. Even though international sales made up 7% of revenue in Q1 2025, that part of the market grew revenue by 41% annually. Moreover, that revenue share was only 4% one year ago. Assuming it can continue to increase the proportion of international sales significantly, Celsius stock could deliver higher returns if revenue growth abroad remains strong. Over the long term, Celsius stock likely remains a buy. Admittedly, the 50 forward P/E ratio could point to some overvaluation in the near term. Furthermore, the immediate recovery in revenue will probably happen because of the buyout of Alani Nu, rather than an organic increase in Celsius brand products. Nonetheless, the 21% forecasted revenue increase in 2026 is an indication that demand will rise over time. Additionally, even though international growth will take some time, sales outside of North America are likely to become the company's primary revenue driver over time. Such potential indicates that Celsius' growth story is far from over, meaning its stock could still be positioned for huge gains. Before you buy stock in Celsius, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Celsius wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $868,615!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Will Healy has positions in Celsius. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Celsius and Monster Beverage. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is Celsius Holdings Stock a Buy Now? was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
