Monster narrowing price gap to Red Bull

Research evidence excerpt

Monster narrowing price gap to Red Bull

Flash Note Consumer | Global Beverages

May 21, 2026

Monster Beverage Corporation Robert Ottenstein Greg Porter 212-653-9020 212-653-9042

MNST | $86.88 Robert.Ottenstein@evercoreisi.com Greg.Porter@evercoreisi.com

Outperform | Target Price/Base Case: $95.00 JD Todd

Company Update 212-812-2912

JD.Todd@evercoreisi.com

While several entrants to the energy drink sector have emerged over the past ~5 years, Red Bull and

Monster remain by far the preeminent brands, with the Monster brand holding a ~31% volume share and

Red Bull a ~25.5% volume share YTD. The current competitive dynamics between Monster and Red Bull

are unlike anything we see in major beverage categories – certainly unlike Beer and CSDs. This different

dynamic likely starts from the significant price premium that Red Bull has historically enjoyed versus

Monster. However, this premium has steadily shrunk over the last 5 years and particularly most recently,

with Monster price/mix +5.4% in scanner vs. Red Bull -2.3%. This 7.7% price/mix gap is the highest

observed in the last 5 years. We believe the premium is narrowing thanks to 3 factors: (1) improving Monster

brand equity, likely boosted by strong innovations; (2) enhanced RGM tools; and (3) improved bottler and

overall system execution, spurred in part by new Monster management.

MNST’s ability to take, and hold, price at levels well above volume loss to Red Bull is encouraging and

supports its premium valuation. If these trends continue and if unlike in the past Monster starts taking price

on a regular basis, we could see upside to our model for the U.S. business and the stock’s valuation. The

risk, of course, is if Red Bull keeps promoting and cash-strapped consumers move the price/volume

equation against Monster.