How Constellation Brands Makes its Money: Revenue Breakdown

How Does Constellation Brands Make its Money?

Constellation Brands is a leading international producer and marketer of beer, wine, and spirits. The company’s beer portfolio is anchored by Mexican import brands — Modelo Especial, Corona Extra, Corona Light, and Pacifico — which have made Constellation the top growth driver in the US beer market for years. Modelo Especial recently became the #1 selling beer brand in America, surpassing Bud Light. On the wine and spirits side, Constellation owns brands including Kim Crawford, Meiomi, Robert Mondavi, The Prisoner, and Casa Noble tequila. The company also holds a significant investment in cannabis company Canopy Growth, though this has generated substantial losses.

Constellation Brands is really two very different businesses under one roof: an outstanding, high-growth beer business and a challenged, declining wine and spirits business. The Mexican beer portfolio is one of the best consumer franchises in America — Modelo, Corona, and Pacifico have captured the premiumization and Hispanic demographic tailwinds driving US beer consumption, gaining share consistently while the overall US beer market has been flat to declining for years. The wine and spirits business, by contrast, has struggled with category headwinds as consumers shift toward spirits, hard seltzers, and cannabis.

Constellation Brands (STZ) Business Model

Constellation Brands Competitors

Constellation Brands’s key competitors and comparable public companies in the consumer staples sector include Anheuser Busch Inbev, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Mondelez International. Each of these companies competes for market share, investor attention, and revenue in overlapping segments. See how Constellation Brands stacks up by comparing their revenue breakdown, margins, and growth metrics.

Revenue Breakdown

Beer (Modelo, Corona, Pacifico) — 80% of Revenue

The beer segment is the crown jewel, selling imported Mexican beer brands that have captured the US market. Modelo Especial is the #1 beer brand in America by dollar sales, a position it achieved partly through organic momentum and partly after the Bud Light controversy in 2023 caused a dramatic market share shift. Corona Extra, Corona Light, Corona Premier, and Pacifico round out the portfolio. All of these brands are brewed in Mexico at Constellation-owned breweries in Nava (Coahuila) and Obregon (Sonora), then imported into the US.

Revenue grew 3.8% in 2024, which represents a moderation from the double-digit growth rates of prior years but still significantly outpaces the flat-to-declining overall US beer market. Growth is driven by volume gains (Modelo continues taking shelf space from domestic brands), premiumization (Modelo and Corona command higher price points than Bud Light or Coors Light), and the expanding Hispanic population in the US, which has natural brand affinity for Mexican beer. Constellation has invested over $5 billion in Mexican brewery capacity to support continued growth and reduce reliance on contract brewing.

Wine — 15% of Revenue

Constellation’s wine portfolio includes brands across price points: Kim Crawford and Meiomi in the popular premium ($10-15) segment, Robert Mondavi and The Prisoner in the fine wine segment, and several other labels. Revenue declined 6.2% in 2024, reflecting the broader challenges facing the US wine industry — younger consumers are drinking less wine, the category is losing share to spirits and non-alcoholic alternatives, and Constellation’s wine brands are concentrated in the premium segment where competition is intense.

Management has been restructuring the wine business, divesting lower-end and underperforming brands to focus the portfolio on the most profitable labels. The strategic question for investors is whether to spin off or sell the wine (and spirits) business entirely to let the market value the beer business as a standalone entity.

Spirits — 4% of Revenue

A small spirits portfolio including Casa Noble tequila, High West whiskey, Mi Campo tequila, and other brands. Revenue was flat in 2024. The spirits category is growing overall (particularly tequila and whiskey) but Constellation’s brands lack the scale and marketing spending to compete effectively against dedicated spirits companies like Diageo, Pernod Ricard, and Brown-Forman. Like wine, this segment is a candidate for divestiture.

Constellation Brands (STZ) Income Statement

All values in millions USD unless otherwise stated.

Financial data sourced from Constellation Brands SEC Filings.

Constellation Brands (STZ) Key Financial Metrics

• Gross Margin: 50.0%
• Operating Margin: 29.4%
• Revenue Growth: 3.0%

Is Constellation Brands Profitable?

Yes, and the beer business is exceptionally profitable. The consolidated 29.4% operating margin and 50.0% gross margin are impressive for a consumer staples company, but they actually understate the beer segment’s strength — beer operating margins are in the mid-30s, dragged down by the lower-margin wine and spirits businesses. Net income grew 80% to $900 million in 2024, benefiting from lower Canopy Growth-related impairments that had depressed prior-year results. The beer segment generates strong free cash flow, which Constellation uses for dividends, share repurchases, and continued brewery capacity expansion in Mexico. The Canopy Growth investment has been a significant destroyer of value — Constellation invested approximately $4 billion in the Canadian cannabis company and has written down most of that investment.

Constellation Brands (STZ): What to Watch

1. Modelo and Corona depletion trends — Beer depletion (volume sold to consumers) growth rate is the single most important metric. Modelo became #1, but sustaining growth from the top position is harder than growing into it. Any deceleration would concern investors.
2. Beer brewing capacity expansion — Constellation has invested $5+ billion in Mexican brewery expansion. The Veracruz brewery and Obregon expansion will add significant capacity, but the capex spend also pressures free cash flow in the near term.
3. Wine and spirits strategic review — The market has been anticipating a potential divestiture or spinoff of the wine/spirits business for years. Any transaction would simplify the story and likely drive a valuation re-rating for the remaining pure-play beer company.
4. Canopy Growth resolution — Constellation’s disastrous cannabis investment has been a persistent overhang. Fully exiting the Canopy position would remove a source of uncertainty and write-downs.
5. Hispanic demographic tailwind — The growing US Hispanic population (projected to reach 30% of the US population by 2060) provides a long-term structural tailwind for Mexican beer brands. However, assimilation patterns may mean second and third-generation Hispanic Americans are less brand-loyal to Mexican imports.

Constellation Brands (STZ) Financial Summary

Constellation Brands is effectively a world-class Mexican beer company saddled with an underperforming wine and spirits portfolio. Revenue grew 3.0% to $10.2 billion in 2024, driven by the beer segment (80% of revenue, up 3.8%) where Modelo Especial holds the #1 position in US beer by dollar sales and Corona continues gaining share. The 50% gross margin and 29.4% operating margin understate the beer business’s profitability (mid-30s operating margins) due to dilution from declining wine (-6.2%) and flat spirits. Net income was $900 million, up 80% as Canopy Growth impairment charges receded. The long-term thesis centers on the $5+ billion Mexican brewery expansion supporting continued beer growth, the growing US Hispanic demographic, and the eventual resolution of the wine/spirits and Canopy Growth overhangs.