{"id":158534,"date":"2026-09-03T14:24:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T18:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedailypour.com\/?p=158534"},"modified":"2026-09-03T14:24:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T18:24:51","slug":"brown-forman-defends-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedailypour.com\/whiskey\/american-whiskey\/brown-forman-defends-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Brown-Forman Defends Strategy After Rejecting Sazerac Takeover, Reported Family Dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Brown-Forman\"

(Photo: Brown-Forman)<\/p><\/div>\n

Brown-Forman, the Louisville-based parent company of significant liquor brands like Jack Daniel\u2019s, Old Forester, Woodford Reserve, Herradura and el Jimador, is defending its strategy and plans to remain independent after a year that has included takeover interest, internal family criticism and a decline in revenue.<\/p>\n

The company reported $911 million in fiscal first-quarter net sales, down slightly from the prior year, while earnings per share rose 6% to 38 cents. Brown-Forman beat Wall Street expectations and reaffirmed its fiscal 2027 outlook for roughly flat organic net sales and a 3%-5% decline in organic operating income, according to Louisville Business First<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Outgoing CEO Lawson Whiting used the company’s earnings call to address the recent takeover discussions and criticism from members of the Brown family, which controls a majority of the company’s voting power through the Wolf Pen Branch shareholder group.<\/p>\n

Whiting said Brown-Forman’s merger discussions<\/a> with Pernod Ricard ended because the companies could not agree on terms. He said the board and its advisers also determined that a proposal from Louisville-based Sazerac Co. was not actionable given the position of the controlling shareholders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel more confident about our business today, and we\u2019re going to continue to grow and do it on our own,\u201d Whiting said, according to Louisville Business First.<\/p>\n

Whiting announced in July that he plans to retire once Brown-Forman names his successor.<\/p>\n

Family Members Criticize Strategy<\/h2>\n

The comments came after reports of a letter from Brown family members W.L. Lyons Brown III and Stuart Brown criticizing Brown-Forman’s leadership, business strategy and stock performance.<\/p>\n

The letter reportedly questioned the company’s expansion into flavored Jack Daniel’s products, with the family members comparing the brand’s approach to Baskin-Robbins, according to Louisville Business First.<\/p>\n

Brown-Forman executives offered a different assessment during the earnings call, pointing to product innovation as an important source of growth.<\/p>\n

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Blackberry<\/a>, which debuted in August 2025, has been a success<\/a>, expanding into more than 30 international markets and contributing more than two percentage points of U.S. value growth, based on Nielsen data cited by the company.<\/p>\n

Brown-Forman’s ready-to-drink portfolio contributed about one percentage point of U.S. value growth. New Mix, the company’s tequila-based RTD currently sold in nine states, has become the eighth-largest contributor to RTD category growth in the Nielsen data cited by Whiting.<\/p>\n

\u201cInnovation is creating meaningful growth opportunities across our portfolio,\u201d Whiting said.<\/p>\n

The results also offered some signs of stabilization in Brown-Forman’s domestic business. Whiting said the U.S. business appears to have reached a bottom around December or January and has been improving gradually. Organic net sales in the U.S. were flat for the quarter.<\/p>\n

International performance was mixed. Developed international markets declined 8%, while emerging international markets grew 9%.<\/p>\n

Tequila remained a weak spot, with sales of Herradura<\/a> and el Jimador landing in the low teens. Management said el Jimador’s position is improving as consumers increasingly shift toward less expensive tequila.<\/p>\n

One of Brown-Forman’s biggest challenges is beyond its core branded spirits business: Sales of used barrels have fallen dramatically, declining from more than $100 million annually two years ago to roughly $30 million last year. Whiting said the drop has created more than an $80 million reduction in profitability from barrel sales over two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are talking $80-plus million in less profitability from barrel sales in two years,\u201d Whiting said, according to Louisville Business First.<\/p>\n

Despite that pressure, Brown-Forman generated $173 million in operating cash flow during the quarter, an increase of $13 million. Free cash flow rose $32 million to $161 million.<\/p>\n

The company also reported a 60.2% gross margin, up 40 basis points from the same period a year earlier. Organic operating income increased 4%, although reported operating income fell 3%.<\/p>\n

Chief Financial Officer Jim Peters said Brown-Forman has increased confidence that fiscal 2027 organic operating income will land toward the more favorable end of its projected decline range.<\/p>\n

The company’s shares were trading around $27.53, nearly 5% higher during the session at the time of Louisville Business First’s publication.<\/p>\n

For now, Brown-Forman’s leadership appears focused on improving the existing portfolio rather than pursuing a sale, with management pointing to innovation, a recovering U.S. business and cash generation as reasons to remain independent.<\/p>\n

\n Scan any liquor or NA bottle to see all expert reviews in one place with the free Daily Pour app<\/a>. Download today!\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brown-Forman, the Louisville-based parent company of significant liquor brands like Jack Daniel\u2019s, Old Forester, Woodford Reserve, Herradura and el Jimador, is defending its strategy and plans to remain independent after a year that has included takeover interest, internal family criticism and a decline in revenue. The company reported $911 million in fiscal first-quarter net sales, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":103560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,6340],"tags":[53,4116,136],"class_list":["post-158534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-whiskey","category-news","tag-brown-forman","tag-industry-news","tag-jack-daniels"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t