What's going on?

Shares of AB InBev � the brewer behind Budweiser, Corona and more � got hammered late last week, after it announced weaker-than-expected earnings and lowered its forecast for the rest of the year.

What does this mean?

Investors had hoped to toast 3% profit growth in the third quarter, but were left feeling flat when ABI announced it�d only made as much as the same time last year. Much of that was ABI�s own doing: it raised prices in big beer-drinking countries like Brazil and South Korea � but neither economy�s doing particularly well, so charging champagne prices when consumers were on a beer budget led to fewer sales. And in China, ABI cut customers off from the promotional pricing it�d offered in the second quarter, leading to lowered demand this time around.

For the rest of the year, then, ABI doesn�t appear to be expecting demand to bubble back up: it lowered expectations for how much profit it�ll earn.

Why should I care?

For markets: AB InBev’s stock tasted bitter.

One of the key reasons investors buy shares of consumer staples companies like ABI is because they�re sticky: people tend to keep buying their favorite beers even if the economy around them has had one too many. But since it seems customers aren�t able to stomach ABI�s price hikes, investors sold off their holdings and the stock fell by 10% (tweet this). Investors in ABI�s bonds might be worried too: the recent sale of its Asian unit may have given it some cash to pay off its $100 billion of debt, but the risk their investments won�t get repaid will climb anyway if the company earns less than expected.

The bigger picture: Not all Chinese spending��

Chinese consumers haven�t been spending on beer, but they have been spending: Gucci parent Kering reported that it�d offset sales lost amid the Hong Kong protests with sales from mainland China and the rest of Asia, helping overall revenue exceed expectations � and pushing its stock up 10% on Friday.