Can you buy Red Bull Stock? For investors, a Red Bull seems like an oxymoron. What’s next? A Green Bear? Corny dad jokes aside, Red Bull is one of the most popular energy drinks in the world today. It was founded back in 1987 in Austria. In fact, it and was based on a Thai beverage called Krating Daeng. The direct translation is red for the word Daeng and large Indian bison for the word Krating. This beverage was popular amongst blue-collar workers like taxi drivers and laborers who needed to stay alert during long shifts. Ironically, when the beverage was introduced to Austria, it was served as a prestigious drink at ski resorts. However, you can’t invest in Red Bull stock.
Today, Red Bull is a global brand, and is distributed to and sold in over 170 countries around the world. It’s become synonymous with extreme sports and is the most recognized brand of energy drink on the planet. Red Bull has over twenty different variations including watermelon, kiwi-acai, blueberry, cola, and ginger ale. But the original flavor remains the most popular. With global distribution, brand loyalty, and recognition, as an industry leader, Red Bull seems like it’d be a great investment, right?
Even though the company has all of the hallmarks of great stock, Red Bull stock isn’t available to trade. Not in the U.S., not in Europe, not in Asia, or any other stock market. Red Bull is privately owned and operates out of Salzburg, Austria as Red Bull GmbH. It’s still owned and operated by the co-founder and CEO Deitrich Mateschitz, who is one of the world’s wealthiest businessmen with a net worth that exceeds $28 billion.
Red Bull Sponsorships
Red Bull sells billions of cans of its energy drinks every year. While that certainly helps to pay the bills, the company also owns sports franchises and endorses sporting events. We wish there was Red Bull stock to buy.
The company sponsors over twenty professional sports teams around the world and owns at least ten of them. Let’s take a look at some of the coolest races, teams, and events that Red Bull sponsors!
Red Bull Crashed Ice: In 2020, this popular event rebranded itself as the Red Bull Ice Cross World Championships. I still prefer Crashed Ice. This event pits a group of ice skaters against each other in a race through an urban environment with jumps, steep turns, and high vertical drops.
It’s performed at breakneck speed and aligned well with Red Bull’s extreme sports image. The Wayne Gretzky of Red Bull Crashed Ice was Sweden’s Jasper Felder, who won the singles event seven times between 2001 to 2009.
This includes six consecutive times between 2001 and 2005! Participants are often ice hockey players, but Felder played bandy, a popular winter sport in Europe.
More Cool Red Bull Sponsorships
Red Bull Stratos: In a very cool project, Red Bull aimed to record the highest sky jump in history. The company chose Salzburg native Felix Baumgartner, a famous Austrian skydiver, and daredevil.
Baumgartner traveled in a launch balloon up into the stratosphere, or approximately 24 miles into the sky. After the initial jump, Baumgartner reached a top speed of 843.6 miles per hour, a world record that broke the sound barrier.
Even though Baumgartner’s world record of highest skydive has since been broken, this event is still one of the brand’s defining moments.
Red Bull Racing: This F1 racing team is based out of England but operates under an Austrian license. The team has had its eras of dominance, including from 2009-2014 where Red Bull Racing finished either first or second in the standings.
F1 is among the most popular sports in the world, even if it does not have as big of a following in the United States.
Red Bull Soccer Teams: Of course, being based out of Europe, Red Bull is heavy into supporting and sponsoring soccer teams. Its hometown Salzburg team is FC Red Bull Salzburg, as well as RB Leipzig in Germany. They also sponsor clubs in other countries like Brazil, Vietnam, and of course the New York Red Bulls in the MLS.
Red Bull and Art?
Red Bull House of Art: Not as extreme as the others, but it shows Red Bull still has the cultural awareness that many brands lack. The Red Bull House of Art is a program that the company launched to help young artists produce new art and exhibitions.
Red Bull has used many of the pieces in its advertising and commercials as well. The program is usually for three months and gives aspiring artists full access to the gallery, as well as some money for art supplies. Currently, the locations are in Detroit and San Paulo, Brazil. This would be great for Red Bull stock.
Can I Invest in Energy Drinks?
Absolutely! The energy drink industry has grown substantially over the past decade. You can’t buy Red Bull stock but there are plenty of companies being publicly traded! If you think that energy drinks aren’t just a fad, here are a few companies you may find interesting as investments!
Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO): Coca-Cola has its own line of energy drinks that have higher levels of caffeine, guarana extract, and of course, sugar. There are certain versions that are sugar-free, as well as multiple different flavors.
But if you like Coca-Cola energy drinks, you’ll have to act quickly! In May, Coke announced it is pulling the plug on the experiment, as popularity never took off. Coca-Cola energy drinks will be off the shelves as of the end of 2021. The company does have a 16.7% stake in the next brand though.
Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ: MNST): Some stock market trivia: which stock has the greatest returns of all time? If you answered Monster, you’re correct! The stock has returned over 87,500% in the past twenty years, although don’t interpret that as all energy stocks are profitable.
As mentioned, Monster is partly owned by Coca-Cola, which is a pretty valuable supply and logistics network to be a part of. Last year, Monster had nearly a 40% share of the U.S. energy drink market.
PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP): Pepsi certainly has some brand names that consumers will recognize in its energy drink stable. The more popular ones are Rockstar, Bang, and Mountain Dew Amp. Pepsi also owns the number one sports drink brand in Gatorade, so needless to say, if you like these alternative drinks, PepsiCo makes for a great investment.
A New Energy Company to Consider
Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ: CELH): A relatively new name to the energy drink sector. It’s caught on as a popular brand and stock on FinTwit and has been growing in popularity in stores. Celsius was a penny stock that also has outsized returns like Monster. Over the past five years, the stock has returned over 3,300% to investors, and over 263% over the past year. The company has grown to a $5 billion market cap. How much higher it can go remains to be seen!
I don’t drink energy drinks. But I’ve heard of this company. A dog rescue person I follow loves Celsius energy drinks. So if you’re into dog rescue, check out the Asher House. Not only will you see adorable animals, you’ll see this company on his feed a lot. Which could make it a great buy since there’s no Red Bull stock.
Are Energy Drinks Good For You?
Well, debatable. Actually, not really debatable at all. Energy drinks contain higher levels of caffeine, sugar, taurine, and other artificial ingredients that generally aren’t very good for us. Why do I bring this up? Many investors don’t like to invest in companies that promote unhealthy lifestyles.
These are usually called sin stocks and ethical investors generally don’t like to buy shares of these companies. From industries like junk food, cigarettes, alcohol, and gambling. So if you use your moral compass when investing in stocks, perhaps the energy drink industry isn’t for you!
Conclusion
So, unfortunately right now you can’t buy Red Bull stock. It’s a privately owned company. Will Red Bull ever go public? At this point, it seems unlikely. Red Bull has been private since 1987, so I don’t see why Mateshcitz would take it public now. Perhaps if there’s a change in leadership at some point in the future, or if Red Bull is bought out by a larger company.
Until then, we discussed some other companies to invest in if you like the energy drink industry. Blue-chip stocks like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are always good investments to have in your portfolio. Monster Beverages is the single greatest performing stock of all time.
That’s definitely a piece of trivia you can use to win a bar bet sometimes. Chances are the next twenty years for Monster won’t be as lucrative as the last twenty years. Red Bull is easily the most globally recognized brand for energy drinks. So it’s too bad it’s not public because it would make a great investment!
