Monster Beverage

One of the best performing stocks of the 21st century has nothing to do with computers, technology, or AI.

MNST 2Q26 First Take: results remained solid, with revenue and GPM both beating.

1) Volume still led growth while ASP fell. In 2Q26, net sales were $2.54bn (+20% YoY vs. Street +15%).

2) The core brand outpaced strategic brands, with mix moving up and innovation the key driver. Monster Energy grew 21.6% YoY, led by new launches; per Nielsen, the Ultra family rose 19%.

By region, management noted EMEA grew at over 2x the category.

3) GPM surprised to the upside, but operating leverage did not follow. Despite higher aluminum can costs and inbound freight, pricing actions and better mix lifted GPM by 20bps to 55.9%.

On opex, the company increased social, digital and media marketing and sponsorships to drive household penetration, with S&M up 36.7% YoY.

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Monster 1Q26 First Take: Overall, Q1 results were very strong. Sell-side c-store trackers had already flagged double-digit growth for major energy-drink players, including Monster, so the bar was high. Actuals still topped that, with the only blemish being some GPM pressure as Intl. scaled rapidly.

1) Revenue growth surged to 27%, the highest quarterly rate in nearly four years. Monster posted Q1 revenue of $2.35bn, up 27% YoY. That beat consensus of $2.15bn (~+16% YoY).

On volume/price, unit case volume jumped 28.8% YoY to 274mn cases, the core driver, indicating strong gains across e-comm, mass, and foodservice channels. ASP slipped 0.8% YoY to $8.4 per case, weighed by a higher mix of value brands in Intl. markets.

2) Core Monster brand accelerated QoQ. The flagship Monster brand grew 27.6% YoY, faster than Q4. Beyond continued strength in the zero-sugar Ultra line, Dolphin Research believes the broader FLRT rollout in Mar drove better-than-expected initial placement and sell-through.

Other strategic brands rose 29.2% YoY, also accelerating QoQ, driven by value labels such as Predator and Fury reaching the harvest phase of distribution in emerging markets. By region, Intl. grew 45% YoY and mix rose to 45%, a record high.

3) Operating leverage continued to expand. Despite a higher mix of lower-margin Intl. and rising aluminum costs, GPM slipped 150bps to 55%. Mix and input inflation were the key headwinds.

On opex, the company is shifting from broad extreme-sports sponsorships to more efficient, data-driven digital marketing and gaming tie-ups, improving marketing ROI. Together with operational efficiencies, OPM expanded 30bps to 31.0%, beating estimates. For more detail, follow Dolphin Research's detailed take and earnings call notes. $Monster Beverage(MNST.US)

DELL First Take: Results were strong, with revenue up 39% YoY and growth starting to accelerate. This quarter’s expansion was driven by ISG (servers) shipments.

AI revenue reached $8.95bn, up $3.3bn QoQ. In addition, new AI orders hit a record $34.1bn, well ahead of the Street’s $10–11bn. Backlog increased by $43bn by quarter-end, laying the groundwork for sustained high growth ahead.

The outlook is the real surprise vs. this quarter’s prints. Mgmt guides next-quarter revenue to $34.7–35.7bn, with the midpoint up $2bn QoQ and well above the Street’s $31.8bn. Based on the order book, Dolphin Research estimates next-quarter AI revenue could top $11bn, implying QoQ growth of $2bn+.

DELL trades around 10x, a clear discount across the AI value chain, largely due to lower GPM and worries about persistent storage tightness. While storage constraints may pressure legacy biz., the surge in AI orders underpins faster growth in AI.

This eases market concerns to a degree, supporting both earnings and multiple expansion. For details, see Dolphin Research’s detailed take and Trans. $Dell Tech(DELL.US) $DELL 2X Long ETF(DLLL.US)

MNST 4Q25 First Take: Intl brokers track energy drink category sell-through via Nielsen monthly data and saw continued QoQ improvement in both buyer penetration and purchase frequency in Q4. In N. America, household penetration for Monster hit a record high of 33%. As a result, Street expectations heading into the print were elevated.

On actuals, revenue beat and remained strong. However, unlike Q3, higher spending drove a slight miss on the profit line.

1) Revenue rose 17.6% YoY, the fastest quarterly growth in nearly three years. By volume/price, unit case volume was up 16.9% YoY, extending Q3’s high-growth trend.

Drivers were twofold: the energy drink category continues to gain global penetration on health and functionality trends. At the company level, a pivot toward health-oriented SKUs and faster innovation captured incremental, health-conscious consumers.

Pricing increased 1.1% YoY. In the core N. American market, MNST implemented varied price hikes by pack size and subcategory while pulling back on promotions.

2) Intl mix kept rising. By brand, the Monster core franchise grew 18.9% YoY, outpacing the category, helped by flavor innovation that resonated with fashion- and fitness-focused female consumers. Other strategic brands rose 6.9% YoY, with slower QoQ growth.

By region, Intl revenue grew 27% YoY and mix increased to 42.4%, supported by deeper leverage of Coca-Cola’s global distribution network. U.S. revenue rose 11.6% YoY, sustaining double-digit growth.

3) Spending modestly exceeded expectations. GPM was stable as mix upgrades and modest pricing offset higher input costs such as aluminum cans.

On opex, heavier sponsorship in Q4, plus launches like Storm, pushed expenses slightly above expectations, resulting in OP modestly below the Street. For more details, follow Dolphin Research’s deep dive and the earnings call content $Monster Beverage(MNST.US)

Monster Beverage 3Q25 Quick Interpretation: Although foreign banks can track the energy drink market and the terminal sales of each brand through Nielsen's monthly data, it is evident from the data that whether in terms of purchase rate, purchase frequency, or single consumption amount, Monster experienced quarter-on-quarter accelerated growth in the third quarter, with its market share across all channels rebounding from 29% in the same period last year to approximately 35%.

Therefore, foreign banks generally raised their expectations for the third quarter before the financial report, and from the actual data on the report side, the final results exceeded expectations and were very impressive.

1. Revenue increased by 16.8% year-on-year, marking the highest single-quarter growth rate in nearly three years. In terms of volume and price breakdown, Monster's unit case sales increased by 17.8% year-on-year, continuing the high growth trend of the second quarter. On one hand, this is due to the strong vitality of the energy drink category under the global trend of health and functionality.

On the other hand, for the company itself, the core lies in changing its strategy, increasing its efforts in operating and launching new health categories, attracting incremental consumers who are sensitive to health. The price end decreased by 0.2% year-on-year, with the decline narrowing compared to the previous two quarters, mainly due to the increased proportion of high-priced products like Ultra (zero sugar) in the company's product mix.

2. The proportion of the international market continues to rise. Breaking down by brand, the Monster Beverage main brand grew by 17.7% year-on-year, leading the market growth rate, primarily due to the significant increase in sales through active new product launches in the Ultra series. Other strategic brands grew by 16.4% year-on-year, with a slight decline in quarter-on-quarter growth.

From a regional perspective, the international market grew by 23.3% year-on-year, with its share rising to 42.6%, mainly due to Monster's increased promotion of affordable energy drinks like Fury and Predator in regions with weakened purchasing power, capturing the market. The U.S. domestic market grew by 12.4% year-on-year, returning to double-digit growth.

3. Core operating profit margin reached a new high in three years. In terms of gross margin, influenced by the company's price increase in the fourth quarter of last year and the increased proportion of high-priced products, the company's gross margin increased by 2.5 percentage points year-on-year to 55.7%.

On the expense side, with the company's refined operations and improved operational efficiency, all expense ratios declined, ultimately leading to a significant increase in core operating profit margin by 5.2 percentage points to 30.7%. For more detailed information, please follow Dolphin Research's specific commentary and conference call content. $Monster Beverage(MNST.US)