Monster Beverage Annual Report 2021 Form 10-K (NASDAQ:MNST) Published: March 1st, 2021 PDF generated by stocklight.com UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 Form 10-K (Mark One) ☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 OR ☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from _____ to _____ Commission file number 001-18761 MONSTER BEVERAGE CORPORATION (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Delaware 47-1809393 (State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer incorporation or organization) Identification No.) 1 Monster Way Corona, California 92879 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (951) 739 - 6200 Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered Common Stock, $0.005 par value per share MNST Nasdaq Global Select Market Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Y es þ No ◻ Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ◻ No þ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ No ◻ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes þ No ◻ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act: Large accelerated filer þ Accelerated filer ◻ Non-accelerated filer ◻ Smaller reporting company ☐ Emerging growth company ☐ If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. þ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.). Ye☐s No þ The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant was 3$3,039,197,262 computed by reference to the closing sale price for such stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on June 30, 2020, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter. The number of shares of the registrant’s common stock, $0.005 par value per share (being the only class of common stock of the registrant), outstanding on February 19, 2021 was 528,137,036 shares. DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE: Portions of the registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement to be filed subsequent to the date hereof with the Commission pursuant to Regulation 14A in connection with the registrant’s 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Report. Such Definitive Proxy Statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission no later than 120 days after the conclusion of the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. MONSTER BEVERAGE CORPORATION FORM 10-K TABLE OF CONTENTS Item Number Page Number PART I 1. Business 3 1A. Risk Factors 18 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 38 2. Properties 38 3. Legal Proceedings 39 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 39 PART II 5. Market for the Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities 40 6. Selected Financial Data 42 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 43 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk 71 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 71 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure 71 9A. Controls and Procedures 72 9B. Other Information 74 PART III 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 74 11. Executive Compensation 74 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters 74 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence 75 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services 75 PART IV 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 75 16. Form 10-K Summary 75 Signatures 78 2 PART I ITEM 1. BUSINESS When this report uses the words “the Company”, “we”, “us” and “our”, these words refer to Monster Beverage Corporation and its subsidiaries, unless the context otherwise requires. Based in Corona, California, Monster Beverage Corporation is a holding company and conducts no operating business, except through its consolidated subsidiaries. The Company’s subsidiaries primarily develop and market energy drinks. Overview We develop, market, sell and distribute energy drink beverages and concentrates for energy drink beverages, primarily under the following brand names: ● Monster Energy® ● NOS® ● Monster Energy Ultra® ● Full Throttle® ● Monster Rehab® ● Burn® ● Monster MAXX® ● Mother® ● Java Monster® ● Nalu® ● Muscle Monster® ● Ultra Energy® ● Espresso Monster® ● Play® and Power Play® (stylized) ● Punch Monster® ● Relentless® ● Juice Monster® ● BPM® ● Monster Hydro® Energy Water ● BU® ● Monster Hydro® Super Sport ● Gladiator® ● Monster HydroSport Super Fuel® ● Samurai® ● Monster Super Fuel® ● Live+® ● Monster Dragon Tea® ● Predator® ● Reign Total Body Fuel® ● Fury® ● Reign Inferno® Thermogenic Fuel Industry Overview The “alternative” beverage category combines non-carbonated, ready-to-drink iced teas, lemonades, juice cocktails, single-serve juices and fruit beverages, ready-to-drink dairy and coffee drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and single-serve still waters (flavored, unflavored and enhanced) with “new age” beverages, including sodas that are considered natural, sparkling juices and flavored sparkling beverages. According to Beverage Marketing Corporation, domestic U.S. wholesale sales in 2020 for the “alternative” beverage category of the market are estimated at approximately $60.5 billion, representing an increase of approximately 1.8% over estimated domestic U.S. wholesale sales in 2019 of approximately $59.5 billion. Reportable Segments We have three operating and reportable segments, (i) Monster Energy® Drinks segment (“Monster Energy® Drinks”), which is primarily comprised of our Monster Energy® drinks and Reign Total Body Fuel® high performance energy drinks, (ii) Strategic Brands segment (“Strategic Brands”), which is primarily comprised of the various energy drink brands acquired from The Coca- Cola Company (“TCCC”) in 2015 as well as our affordable energy brands, and (iii) Other segment (“Other”), which is comprised of certain products sold by American Fruits and Flavors, LLC, a wholly- owned subsidiary, to independent third-party customers (the “AFF Third-Party Products”). 3 Our Monster Energy® Drinks segment primarily generates net operating revenues by selling ready-to-drink packaged energy drinks primarily to bottlers and full service beverage distributors. In some cases, we sell directly to retail grocery and specialty chains, wholesalers, club stores, mass merchandisers, convenience chains, drug stores, foodservice customers, value stores, e-commerce retailers and the military. Our Strategic Brands segment primarily generates net operating revenues by selling “concentrates” and/or “beverage bases” to authorized bottling and canning operations. Such bottlers generally combine the concentrates and/or beverage bases with sweeteners, water and other ingredients to produce ready-to-drink packaged energy drinks. The ready-to-drink packaged energy drinks are then sold to other bottlers, full service distributors or retailers, including, retail grocery and specialty chains, wholesalers, club stores, mass merchandisers, convenience chains, foodservice customers, drug stores, value stores, e-commerce retailers and the military. To a lesser extent, our Strategic Brands segment generates net operating revenues by selling certain ready-to-drink packaged energy drinks to bottlers and full service beverage distributors. Generally, the Monster Energy® Drinks segment generates higher per case net operating revenues, but lower per case gross profit margin percentages than the Strategic Brands segment. For certain risks with respect to our energy drinks see “Part I, Item 1A – Risk Factors” below. Corporate History In the 1930s,