Anheuser Busch (BUD) Seen Reporting Profit Drop Amid Global Expansion Push

Anheuser Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD) is expected to focus on its international expansion during its second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday afternoon as the beer behemoth makes a push into major emerging markets.

The Budweiser brewer is making a major push into China and Latin America, where it recently acquired Mexico's Grupo Modelo SAB, nearly doubling its size, for $20.1 billion. And over the last two years, the company spent $1.4 billion revamping breweries in China.

Analysts polled by Bloomberg predict AB InBev would rake in $1 per share on revenues of $10.4 billion, down from $1.22 per share on revenues of $9.9 billion.

In April, the company -- originally based in St. Louis but bought out by a Belgian corporate parent -- announced a push into Vietnam, where beer sales are predicted to grow by 10 percent on average for 2010-2020.

Consumption of Budweiser, perhaps the most recognizable of AB InBev's more than 200 brands, has been sinking for more than 24 years in the U.S.

But AB InBev plans to launch the brand as a global giant -- hoping it can be the Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) of cold ones, according to the Wall Street Journal.

AB InBev has opened eight Budweiser brewing plants in China, up from just two in 2008.

This will likely raise questions among analysts during the earnings call at 9 a.m. EDT on Wednesday.

Beer is "all about local brands," said Sanjeet Aujla, a beverage analyst at Credit Suisse Group (NYSE:CS). "Globalizing beer misses the point."