Are growth vibes at Celsius Holdings drying up…or is this desert oasis as lush as Greenland…or was it Iceland that’s green? (D2: The Mighty Ducks reference anyone?) This is the first quarter that Celsius energy drinks was fully integrated into the PepsiCo DSD distribution system after the August deal announcement. Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ: CELH) had quarterly revenue of $260 million, which was up 95% YoY. According to IRI last 52-week data, Celsius was the number one brand driver of growth in the energy drink category. Celsius was responsible for 23% of the category growth, driving $552 million in incremental sales. In addition, according to the trailing 4 weeks of IRI SPINS all tracked channel data for the period ending March 26, 2023, Celsius is now securely the third-largest energy drink brand in the category. Its market share went from 3.7% in the first quarter of last year to 7.5% now. Celsius energy drinks saw massive growth in convenience stores, mass retailers like Walmart, the club channel in retailers like Costco, and the Amazon marketplace. With all this sales growth, Celsius must find balance in marketing initiatives as they level up. Everyone knows they have cash, a big name behind them now, and a desire to keep the public markets happy with growth. That mix can be a money pit if not managed right. What I like about the recent Formula 1 Ferrari team deal though is the global marketing appeal. I’ve mentioned this a few times in previous content, but this hasn’t been smooth sailing for the energy drink brand that acquired its Nordic distributor in late-2019 and formed a joint venture with its Chinese partner. With the rocky elements with the global supply chain, geopolitical tensions, and the strong U.S. dollar…Celsius has smartly focused its attention and resources on fueling the insane growth within the domestic market. But that’s going to start changing soon…or at least that’s what I predict. For one…PepsiCo is the energy drink brand’s preferred global distributor. With PepsiCo being the second biggest in terms of beverage distribution globally, there’s significant opportunities to capitalize on global scale. The first largest global beverage distributor is obviously Coca-Cola and if you look at how it helps Monster Energy, international sales make up 37% of the total revenue. Now…it’s apples to oranges comparison because Monster Energy has a collection of internationally specific brands for those markets. But international makes up only 4.4% of the total Celsius revenue. So, regardless of not having any cheaper portfolio brand options…even a decent go-to-market strategy in the different markets that are popular for energy drinks should yield strong results in 2024 with the help of PepsiCo.