Consumer

Upstart Celsius Wins Street Kudos in Energy Drink Showdown

  • Stock suffers its worst quarter in more than 10 years
  • Monster Beverage shares also slumped on slowing sales trends
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Celsius Holdings Inc. was hit with its worst quarter in more than a decade as the explosive growth of energy-drink sales slowed, but Wall Street is betting the upstart firm has the best shot at regaining lost momentum.

After three-straight years of triple-digit revenue growth, investors fretted slowing sales at Celsius would derail its bid to unseat its top-selling rivals, Monster Beverage Corp. and closely held Red Bull GmbH. Celsius’ stock plunged 31% in the second quarter, its worst loss since 2013. Cooling industry trends also weighed on Monster, which slumped 16%.