Pete’s Brewing Sees Continued Problems

Pete’s Brewing Co. shares fell to a record low after the Palo Alto-based craft-beer brewer compounded investors’ worries with a forecast of lower first-quarter earnings and no growth in shipments. Pete’s shares fell 13/16 to $5.125; the company went public in November 1995 at $18 a share. Pete’s said Wednesday that fourth-quarter earnings won’t meet analysts’ expectations because of distribution problems, particularly in California. In a conference call Thursday with analysts, it said those problems will continue this quarter. Getting beer to stores has been a continuing problem among craft brewers, as they jostle for space on the trucks of independent distributors. That has caused growth in case shipments of their brands to slow down.