Monster Beverage Surges 37% on $300M Volume Enters Top 500 by Daily Trading Volume in Backtested Strategy

On August 22, 2025, Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) closed with a 2.36% decline, trading with a daily volume of $300 million. The stock has surged 37% over the past year, outperforming both the S&P 500 and consumer staples indices. This rally follows a recovery in revenue growth, which accelerated to 11% in Q2 2025 after a trough of 1% in Q3 2024. Gross margins improved to 55.7% in Q2 2025, a 460 basis point increase since Q1 2022, though still below pre-pandemic levels of 60%. The company has spent $5.2 billion on share buybacks since 2021, contributing to an all-time high adjusted EPS of $0.52.

International sales accounted for 41% of net revenue in Q1 2025, growing over 16%. Analysts have updated price targets to $69.50 post-Q2 earnings, implying a 9% upside from the August 19 closing price. The stock trades at a forward P/E of 32x, aligned with its three-year average. While near-term optimism persists due to energy drink market tailwinds, long-term concerns linger over limited diversification beyond the energy beverage segment.

A backtested strategy of purchasing the top 500 stocks by daily trading volume and holding for one day yielded a total profit of $2,253.88 from December 2022 to August 2025. The approach faced a maximum drawdown of -$1,025.71 and achieved a Sharpe ratio of 1.47, reflecting strong risk-adjusted returns.