Big Changes: The Sam Can and The Dollar Menu – Boston Beer Co Inc (SAM), McDonald’s Corporation (MCD)

It doesn’t appear that the flip-flop had much of an effect on the company’s fortunes. Since late 1985 Coca-Cola has increased annual revenue and its dividend by over six-fold and grown earnings at a compounded rate of 13% per year.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) was once the world’s largest manufacturer of PC’s and in fact, in the early days, they were commonly referred to as “IBM-compatible PC’s.” The first model was called the IBM 5150.

IBM is famous for invention and has

IBM is in the midst of reinventing itself right now as it has transitioned from hardware-oriented products, including PC’s, to providing various types of services to other companies and for “Big Data.”

“Big Blue” has also returned a lot of value to shareholders over the years, including repurchasing its own shares and increasing its dividend by over five times in the past decade. It also has been one of the Dow’s best performing stocks over the last four years.

So will Boston Beer follow the lead of other companies, such as Coca-Cola and IBM, and be able to change an important aspect of a successful product and continue to perform well? Will McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) still be successful after their revised ad campaign? I wouldn’t bet against them.