Beer, media and restaurants: who analysts are betting on ahead of the World Cup

The World Cup, which will be held from June 11 to July 19 in the United States, Mexico and Canada, will be a stimulus for shares of restaurant chains, media corporations and brewing companies, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, writes CNBC. Here are the securities and sectors experts advise investors to pay attention to.

"Our leisure, restaurant and alcohol, media, technology and gaming analysts see companies on their coverage list for whose stocks the [soccer] World Cup could prove supportive," Deutsche Bank said, listing a number of securities they believe will receive "temporary support" thanks to the event. Among them:

- U.S. restaurant brands located in close proximity to the stadiums where the matches will be held: Sweetgreen (the general consensus of Wall Street analysts on these stocks is to hold), Shake Shack (the most buy recommendations) and The Cheesecake Factory (the prevailing recommendation on these stocks is to hold). According to analysts, they are in the best position to capitalize on the growing tourist traffic on the back of the tournament.

- Fox Corporation (the general consensus of Wall Street analysts on these securities - to hold), which owns the rights to broadcast matches of the tournament in English, and Comcast (analysts advise to hold shares), which owns the Telemundo TV channel - it has the rights to broadcast in Spanish. Deutsche Bank analysts believe that advertising for the upcoming Mundial in the U.S. could bring the highest revenues in the history of the event. The main driver, according to banks, will be the expanded format of the tournament, which will now involve 48 national teams instead of the usual 32.

- Goldman Sachs also forecast growth in the performance of European and U.S. FMCG manufacturers, European cyclical consumer goods companies, U.S. retail, hospitality, leisure and U.S. airlines. In the consumer staples sector, Goldman Sachs cited its previous March note in which it predicted that brewing companies would benefit the most from the tournament. At the moment, the investment bank recommends "buy" shares of several beer producers, including AB InBev (among Wall Street analysts, these securities have the most buy recommendations), Constellation Brands (consensus - buy), Molson Coors (hold), Heineken (buy) and Carlsberg (buy). At the same time, the investment bank does not forecast a similar rise in the market of strong alcohol.

Despite the increase in consumer spending, both Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs noted that the tournament will have a negligible impact on U.S. GDP. According to their estimates, the World Cup has a much smaller economic impact than current macroeconomic factors such as war with Iran, Fed policy, foreign trade duties and capital expenditures by companies on artificial intelligence.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be held for the first time in 16 stadiums in three countries - the United States, Canada and Mexico. FIFA President Gianni Infantino estimates that about 6 billion people will watch the World Cup. FIFA also believes that 6.5 million people will wish to attend the matches in person, of which about 40%, that is, about 2.6 million people, will be foreign tourists. They will bring the host countries $7.5 billion, and the total economic effect of the mundial will reach $80 billion, the International Football Federation expects.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor