Brown Forman Inc BF-A

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-defensive

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
92/100
Strong

About Brown Forman Inc

Brown-Forman Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distills, bottles, imports, exports, markets, and sells a variety of alcohol beverages. It provides spirits, wines, whiskey spirits, whiskey-based flavored liqueurs, ready-to-drink cocktails, ready-to-pour products, vodkas, tequilas, gin, brandy, rum, bourbons, and liqueurs. The company offers its products primarily under the Jack Daniel's, Woodford Reserve, Old Forester, Gentleman Jack, Herradura, el Jimador, Fords … Full BF-A analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Margins Consistently Above Peers Gross margin at 60.5% (top 0%) and operating margin at 25.5% (top 0%) indicate strong pricing power.
  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 1.00), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Strong
100

Where BF-A ranks in Beverages - Wineries & Distilleries

Brown Forman Inc ranks #1 of 14 scored companies in Beverages - Wineries & Distilleries by moat score — the top 7%. That makes it the widest moat in the group.

Moat scores for companies ranked near BF-A in Beverages - Wineries & Distilleries
# Company Moat score Rating
1 Brown Forman Inc BF-A 92/100 Strong
2 Brown Forman Inc BF-B 92/100 Strong
3 Willamette Valley Vineyards, In WVVIP 71/100 Moderate
4 Diageo plc DEO 67/100 Moderate
5 Willamette Valley Vineyards, In WVVI 64/100 Moderate
6 SNDL Inc. SNDL 49/100 Developing
7 MGP Ingredients, Inc. MGPI 44/100 Developing
8 Innovation Beverage Group Limit IBG 43/100 Developing
9 LQR House Inc. YHC 26/100 Developing

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How BF-A scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 100 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 85 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 100 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 80 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 88 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 93 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding BF-A's moat

What is Brown Forman Inc's moat score?

Brown Forman Inc (BF-A) scores 92 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as strong. It ranks #1 of 14 scored companies in Beverages - Wineries & Distilleries, the top 7%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 13 companies in Beverages - Wineries & Distilleries. Its strongest defense is Pricing Power (100/100) and its weakest is Capital Efficiency (80/100).

How does Brown Forman Inc compare with other Beverages - Wineries & Distilleries companies?

Brown Forman Inc ranks #1 of 14 scored companies in Beverages - Wineries & Distilleries by moat score. That is the widest moat in Beverages - Wineries & Distilleries. The companies ranked closest are Brown Forman Inc (BF-B) at 92 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 13 companies in Beverages - Wineries & Distilleries. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Brown Forman Inc scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Brown Forman Inc?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and BF-A scores: Pricing Power (100), Cost Advantage (85), Customer Stickiness (100), Capital Efficiency (80), Resilience (88), Scale & Market Position (93). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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