In a Thursday interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer, Constellation Brands CEO Bill Newlands highlighted the past quarter's success in its beer brands and said the company has been shifting its focus from mainstream to higher-end brands.
"Modelo is up almost 9%, Pacifico is up 15%, the Chelada business was up 40%, and we still see very solid success with Corona," Newlands said. "Our business is performing, particularly on the beer side, very, very well, and we expect it to do that for a long time to come."
Constellation reported earnings Thursday, with its beer portfolio seeing double-digit sales growth. However, its wine and spirits brands did not perform as well.
Newlands chalked up some of this underperformance to the mainstream brands in its spirits and wine business. He said the company has already shifted much of its brand portfolio from mainstream to higher-end products. Additionally, Constellation's earnings report showed that and its higher-end wine and liquor brands — like Meiomi and Kim Crawford wine brands — outperformed the rest of the group.
"Three years ago, two-thirds of our business was in the mainstream, and the mainstream is very unhealthy," he said. "Today it's one-third, and even though that area continues to drag on the overall business, the top end of our wine business is doing quite well and taking share."
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Disclaimer The CNBC Investing Club Charitable Trust holds shares of Constellation Brands.
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