When the 2023 Bud Light boycott started over a controversial marketing campaign in April 2023, it was bad news for Anheuser-Busch Inbev SA (NYSE: BUD) and its contemporary shareholders.
Simultaneously, as with any downturn, it also, at various points, presented substantially lucrative buying opportunities – a fact also evident in the BUD stock price, which is, at press time on May 1, 2026, approximately 13% higher than it was on March 31, 2023.
Indeed, looking back, it is evident that, for any long-term investor, buying Anheuser-Busch shares at almost any point in the last three years would have been a profitable move. Still, not all moments since April 1, 2023 – the day the controversy started – would have been equally strong buying opportunities.
Investing in Bud Light stock at the start of the boycott would have returned
To begin with, deciding to be a contrarian immediately when the boycott started would have meant purchasing the stock at between approximately $66 and $64 for a bet that would have remained in the red through both the 2024 and 2025 recovery and only turned green in early 2026.
Still, considering BUD stock is trading at $75.55 at press time on May 1, 2026, even purchasing at the higher end would have led to a 13% return across the last three years.
Elsewhere, making the same decision to trade against the boycott but hold off until it had taken its initial toll on the equity by late 2023 would have placed the likely purchase price close to $55.
Had an investor decided to buy Anheuser-Busch shares near that level, they would have, in fact, seen their portfolio spend most of the subsequent two and a half years in the green with a notable exception in late 2024 and early 2025.
This was the best time to buy $1,000 worth of Bud Light stock
Indeed, a mixed earnings report published on October 31, 2024, sent BUD stock crashing toward roughly $46 – its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic – and the equity only crept back above $50 February of the subsequent year.
Simultaneously, however, the post-earnings collapse would have represented the optimal moment for investing, as, by press time, Anheuser-Busch rallied a total of 66%. Thus, purchasing $1,000 of the stock near its bottom approximately 17 months ago would have led to a stake worth $1,660 on May 1, 2026, and a profit of about $660.
The worst time to bet against the Bud Light boycott – revealed
Elsewhere and perhaps surprisingly, the worst moment to buy the beer shares came earlier in 2026. Specifically, BUD stock entered a strong rally early in January but then peaked on February 27 – a day before the Iran war started and triggered major instability for the global markets.
Had an investor read the upsurge as a sign that the boycott has finally fully ended and purchased near $81.56 – the 52-week high closing price – they would have seen their stake depreciate 6.67% by press time on May 1.
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