The maker of Samuel Adams brand beers and flavored malt beverages is among a select group of top-rated alcoholic beverage makers, most of them located outside the U.S.
The beer maker said it now expects full-year earnings per share of $4.30 to $4.60, up from $3.80 to $4.20 earlier.
Implied fourth quarter EPS is $1.15 to $1.45, the midpoint of $1.30 easily topping consensus of six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for $1.12 a share.
Boston Beer shares soared 15% to 131.76 in Thursday afternoon trading.
Its stock sports a 90 IBD Composite Rating, meaning it's outperformed 90% of all stocks.
Earnings per share rose at a double-digit rate every quarter but one in the last year, while sales rose 10% to 23% every quarter. Its stock has climbed well above its 200-day average and continues to trend above its 50-day as well.
Other top-rated companies in the Beverages-Alcoholic group, ranked a strong 71 on IBD's list of 197 industry groups, include Brazil's Companhia de Bebidas das Americas (ABV), or AmBev, with a 94 Composite Rating. U.K.-based Diageo (DEO), maker of Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker whiskey and other beverages, has an 89 rating. AmBev rose less than 1% Thursday and Diageo fell less than 1%.
Belgium-based Anheuser Busch Inbev (BUD), which brews up Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck's brand beers, has a 91 rating. Inbev dipped 0.7%.
In the U.S., Molson Coors Brewing (TAP), which sells under Coors, Keystone, Molson and other brands and has an 81 Composite Rating, edged down fractionally.
Among the weakest in the group is Portland, Ore.-based Craft Brewing Alliance (BREW), which sells beers under the Redhook, Widmer Brothers and other brands and has a 24 Composite Rating. Shares jumped 4.6% to 6.67 a share Thursday after it reported better-than-expected third-quarter sales.
