Treasury Wine Estates Faces $450 Million U.S. Asset Writedown as Shares Plunge to Nine-Year Low

Australia’s Treasury Wine Estates, one of the world’s largest wine producers, announced on Monday that it expects to write down nearly $450 million from the value of its U.S. assets. The company cited a slowdown in the American wine market as the main reason for this decision. The announcement led to a sharp drop in Treasury Wine’s share price, which fell as much as 6.4% to A$5.45 in early trading, reaching its lowest point since August 2015. The broader S&P/ASX 200 index remained mostly unchanged during the session.

The writedown, totaling A$687.4 million ($449.56 million), will eliminate all goodwill associated with Treasury Wine’s Americas business and may affect other assets as well. The company said that moderating U.S. wine sales forced it to adopt more conservative assumptions about long-term market growth, which in turn reduced its expected earnings from the region.

Treasury Wine has faced mounting pressure from investors this year, with its stock price dropping more than 50% since January. The company is now under increased scrutiny as it works to stabilize its operations in the United States. Sam Fischer, who took over as chief executive in October, is scheduled to provide an update to investors and analysts in mid-December.

Analysts have responded to the news with concern. Michael Toner of RBC Capital Markets noted that the writedown aligns with Treasury Wine’s earlier decision to withdraw its earnings guidance for 2026, a move made in October due to ongoing challenges in both the U.S. and China. That announcement also sent shares tumbling to decade lows. Toner said the latest writedown signals growing pessimism about long-term market fundamentals and suggests that Treasury Wine may have overpaid for some of its previous acquisitions in the Americas.

Hebe Chen, an analyst at Vantage Markets, said the size of the writedown increases the likelihood that management will take a more cautious approach when considering February’s dividend payout, as it focuses on stabilizing its Americas division.

Despite these challenges, Treasury Wine reported that some of its larger premium brands—such as Daou, Frank Family Vineyards and Matua—continue to outperform the broader market. However, other trends within the U.S. wine category have negatively affected its Treasury Americas and Treasury Collective units.

Earlier this year, Treasury Wine warned of an 11% annual reduction in future cash flows from its Americas business, which has now reduced impairment headroom to zero. The company’s U.S. operations have also been disrupted by the exit of a key distributor in California. The transition to a new distribution partner has cost Treasury Wine around A$50 million in lost sales.

The combination of slowing market growth, operational disruptions and investor pressure has created a challenging environment for Treasury Wine Estates as it seeks to navigate shifting consumer preferences and economic uncertainty in one of its most important markets.