Moutai share price hits record high Wednesday

Kweichow Moutai Co Ltd, China's iconic high-end spirit maker from Maotai town in Southwest China's Guizhou province, saw its share price close at 1,300 yuan ($183) per share on Wednesday, marking a record high and becoming the most expensive food and beverage stock globally.

Its valuation reached 1.63 trillion yuan, which exceeded that of Nasdaq-listed US multinational Coca Cola Co, whose valuation stood at 1.38 trillion yuan as of Tuesday.

In the first quarter, despite the negative impact from COVID-19, Moutai still reported robust gains, which have further boosted investor sentiment toward such consumer stocks and continued to raise its valuation.

Citic Securities, CitiBank and China International Capital Corp said they are bullish on Moutai's future performance. Citic raised its one-year target price of Moutai to 1,500 yuan per share.

From January to March, Moutai achieved sales revenues of 24.4 billion yuan, up 12.76 percent year-on-year. In the period, its net profit reached 13.09 billion yuan, growing 16.69 percent year-on-year, according to its latest earnings.

Moutai also made substantial gains last year. It achieved sales of 88.85 billion yuan and profits of 41.21 billion yuan in 2019, both marking record highs.

"The coronavirus has sped up the shift of the white spirit industry in China, and the gap between leading companies and regional distillers is continuously growing. Major spirit makers, which boast reputations and higher risk-resistance capability, are less affected by the epidemic," said a research report by Huachuang Securities.