By Jorge Ollero
MEXICO CITY, April 30 (Reuters) – Becle, the world’s largest tequila maker, edged back into the black on Thursday after its stock took an early morning battering following first-quarter earnings that landed below analyst forecasts, which had already been dampened by warnings of a harsh year.
The stock recovered to rise 1% after the company’s morning earnings call, in which executives said the reorganization of its U.S. distribution network was proceeding according to plan and should ultimately increase Becle’s coverage.
Becle warned early this year of a difficult 2026 as it restructures its U.S. distribution system after ending its partnership with national distributor RNDC, which is undergoing a major selloff.
Executives said they saw the shakeup as an opportunity and distribution should increase in the coming months compared with historical levels, noting that a prior inventory buildup with other distributors should leave customers’ supplies unaffected.
They also pledged to propose a cash dividend and extend their share buyback program at Thursday’s shareholders’ meeting.
Becle maintained its 2026 guidance, after some analysts speculated the worse-than-expected results could cause the company to cut its already gloomy forecasts for 2026, which the distiller has said will be a “transition year”.
Spirit vendors worldwide are facing a shrinking market as people on average drink less alcohol. Becle, which makes much of its income from the United States, also saw a stronger Mexican peso dry up the value of earnings it made abroad.
Becle, which sells Jose Cuervo family tequilas and other liquors mainly across North America, for the first three months of 2026 posted a 67% slump in net profit, landing at less than half the figure anticipated by analysts polled by LSEG.
Analysts at Scotiabank said the decline was “the worst quarter in recent memory”, and results would have to improve drastically in the second half of this year to meet forecasts.
Becle’s stock has lost nearly a third of its value since the start of this year, and last month it was struck off Mexico’s main stock index S&P/BMV IPC in favor of airline Volaris.
(Reporting by Sarah Morland and Jorge Ollero Castela; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Hugh Lawson)
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