Boston Beer shares fall after 4Q miss

BOSTON

Boston Beer Company Inc. shares fell in trading Wednesday after the company reported fourth-quarter results that missed expectations.

The company, which makes Sam Adams beer, reported late Tuesday that its profit more than doubled to 52 cents per share. Revenue grew 3 percent to $107.2 million.

But the results fell short of the 58-cents-per-share profit and $110.8 million in revenue that analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected.

Investors sent the shares down more than 3 percent, dropping $1.64 to close at $50.10 Wednesday.

Deutsche Bank analyst Andrew Kieley said in a research note, while the results missed estimates, they were "reasonably good qualitatively" as volume improved and the company was actively reinvesting in its business. The analyst maintained a "Hold" rating on shares.