The
best-performing
stock
of
the
past
three
decades
is
not
one
of
the
tech
titans
you’d
assume.
It’s
actually
an
energy
drink
company:
Monster
Beverage.
Monster’s
stock
has
climbed
for
decades,
along
with
sales,
which
have
grown
consistently
for
31
years
straight.
Between
Feb.
14,
1994,
and
Wednesday,
Monster’s
stock
appreciated
by
about
200,000%.
That
means
that
if
a
consumer
had
invested
$1,000
in
1994,
the
stake
would
be
worth
about
$2
million
today.
Analysts
say
several
factors
have
driven
Monster’s
success.
But
a
lot
has
to
do
with
its
leaders,
co-CEOs
and
South
African
billionaires
Rodney
Sacks
and
Hilton
Schlosberg,
who
capitalized
early
on
a
rather
new
market.
“Some
of
it
is
clearly
right
place,
right
time,”
said
Stifel
consumer
and
retail
managing
director
Mark
Astrachan.
“I
think
there’s
an
element
to
it
as
well
of
being
really
good
at
what
you
can
do,
because
you
can’t
be
as
lucky
as
they’ve
been
for
as
long
as
they’ve
been,
without
being
really
good
at
running
a
business.”
Monster
Beverage
is
a
holding
company
composed
of
subsidiaries
that
produce
and
manufacture
drinks
including
energy,
alcohol,
teas
and
coffees.
In
the
third
quarter
of
last
year,
the
company
posted
net
sales
of
$1.86
billion,
a
14.3%
increase
from
the
same
period
a
year
prior. Its
Monster
Energy
segment
accounted
for
$1.71
billion
of
that.
Monster
Beverage
was
founded
as
a
family
juice
company,
Hansen’s,
in
1935.
It
was
later
named
Hansen
Natural
Corporation.
Sacks
and
Schlosberg
acquired
it
and
took
it
public
in
1990,
after
it
had
filed
for
bankruptcy
in
1988.
The
company
has
since
seen
a
complete
transformation.
Where
it
was
trading
for
just
pennies
at
that
time,
it
closed
at
$55.02
a
share
on
Friday.
Monster
launched
a
few
energy
drinks
in
the
1990s
under
its
previous
name.
But
analysts
said
the
company
didn’t
really
take
off
until
establishing
an
eponymously
named
drink
in
2002.
“They
built
it
the
right
way,”
said
RBC
Capital
Markets
Managing
Director
Nik
Modi.
“They
were
very
slow
and
methodical
in
how
they
built
the
distribution
of
the
brand,
making
sure
it
was
strong
in
every
market
that
it
was
in,
and
every
retailer
that
was
in
it
was
getting
good
velocity.”
Analysts
said
the
leaders
were
good
at
knowing
their
customers,
focusing
on
action
sports
and
other
events
such
as
motocross,
UFC,
bullfighting
and
Nascar
instead
of
traditional
TV
or
magazine
ads. It
resonated
with
the
younger
blue-collar
workers
who
attended
those
events.
“People
are
so
passionate
about
this
brand,”
said
Modi.
The
company
attracted
the
attention
of
beverage
giant
Coca-Cola,
which
entered
into
a
strategic
partnership
with
the
company
now
called
Monster
Beverage
in
2015.
At
the
time,
Coke
purchased
a
16.7%
stake
in
the
company
for
more
than
$2
billion.
That
stake
has
grown
to
about
20%
today.
Coke
agreed
to
become
Monster’s
preferred
global
distribution
partner,
and
the
two
companies
traded
the
ownerships
of
several
brands.
Monster
got
energy
drinks
such
as
NOS,
Full
Throttle,
Burn
and
Relentless,
while
Coke
got
Hansen’s
Natural
Sodas,
Peace
Tea
and
Hubert’s
Lemonade.
“They’ve
obviously
been
showing
that
they
can
grow
globally,”
said
Modi.
“And
that’s
effectively
what
they’ve
been
doing
and
what’s
been
driving
most
of
the
growth
in
the
outperformance
in
the
stock.”
Watch
this
video
to
learn
more.
