ARCHER-DANIELS-MIDLAND CO vs Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, two Food & Beverage stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
AB InBev brews beer; Archer-Daniels-Midland crushes soybeans and mills wheat. The brewer keeps 14.29% of revenue as profit, more than ten times ADM's 1.34%, the difference between a branded pour and a bulk commodity. Both post modest returns on equity, BUD 8.67% and ADM 4.74%, though for different reasons: goodwill weighs on the brewer, thin spreads on the processor. ADM trades at a steep 34.29 times earnings against BUD's 24.68, yet throws off a far larger 12.89% free cash yield versus 6.53%. AB InBev is the far bigger enterprise at $171.9B against ADM's $37.2B. The brewer profits per bottle and the processor per ton, and margin favors the bottle by a wide gap.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | ADM | BUD |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $80.41 | $79.60 |
| Market cap | $38.9B | $160.7B |
| Sector | Food & Beverage | Food & Beverage |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +5.0% | — |
| P/E | 35.9 | 23.1 |
| P/B | 1.71 | 1.64 |
| P/S | 0.48 | 2.71 |
| EV/EBITDA | 39.2 | 9.7 |
| Revenue growth | -3.7% | +2.3% |
| Gross margin | 6.0% | 55.9% |
| Operating margin | — | 26.0% |
| Net margin | 1.3% | 14.3% |
| Return on equity | 4.7% | 8.7% |
| Return on assets | 1.9% | 3.9% |
| Return on invested capital | — | 11.8% |
| FCF yield | 12.3% | 7.0% |
| Dividend yield | 2.5% | — |
| Debt / equity | 0.36 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 1.31 | 0.72 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 8.16 | 6.77 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 6 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.