As we state in our earnings release, some of the information we discuss and that may come up on this call reflects the company's or management's expectations or predictions of the future. They continue to be innovation, supporting our full portfolio of brands with advertising investment and focused execution, and driving margin improvement. I'll personally be particularly focused on our high-impact areas, including our innovation pipeline and ensuring that we are appropriately investing in our brands through both advertising and local in-market execution. We've made strong progress on our margin improvement initiatives, and to help continue those efforts, Phil Hodges has been named Chief Operating Officer.
In his new role, Phil will continue to report to me and will focus on continuing to improve execution across all functions and implementing our previously announced margin enhancement initiatives. Economic uncertainty that has consumers more tightly managing their budgets, as well as pressure on Hispanic consumers, continues to impact consumer demand negatively across the overall beer industry. Moderation trends are also having an impact on demand, and in certain states, hemp-derived beverages are competing for shelf space and drinkers. Despite these current industry headwinds, we continue to see long-term growth opportunities in the Beyond Beer category, also known as the Fourth Category.
Our brands are well-positioned to participate in this growth, and our strong innovation culture allows us to move quickly to add to the portfolio as consumer trends evolve. As Diego will discuss in his remarks on our guidance, we are reinvesting some of our gross margin over delivery into additional advertising spend. In terms of depletions, we're encouraged by the strong consumer reception to Sun Cruiser, a second consecutive quarter of growth in Angry Orchard, and positive drinker reception to our higher ABV offerings. Despite a softer volume environment that we planned at the start of 2025, we have delivered strong margin expansion and grown our EPS for the first nine months of the year.