Coca-Cola Company comfortably beats third-quarter forecasts

Soft drink behemoth Coca-Cola topped expectations on quarterly earnings and revenue in its latest report on Tuesday, with earnings per share coming in at 74 cents.

That was well ahead of the 69 cents pencilled in by analysts surveyed by LSEG, while revenue reached $11.91bn, comfortably beating the expected $11.44bn.

For the third quarter, Coca-Cola’s net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $3.09bn, or 71 cents per share, up from $2.83bn or 65 cents per share a year earlier.

Despite increasing product prices due to rising commodity costs over the last two years, Coca-Cola had decided to halt further price hikes in the US and Europe for the current year.

However, the quarter saw a 9% increase in prices compared to the same period last year.

In North America, Coca-Cola’s volume remained flat, but it saw increased sales of Coke Zero Sugar and Fairlife dairy products.

The company’s various drink divisions saw volume growth, with its sparkling soft drinks and juice, dairy, and plant-based beverage divisions seeing a 2% increase in volume, while its water, sports, coffee, and tea business recorded 1% volume growth.

Looking ahead, Coca-Cola revised its full-year outlook to project comparable earnings per share growth of 7% to 8%, up from the previous range of 5% to 6%.

Additionally, the firm adjusted its forecast for organic revenue, expecting an increase of 10% to 11%, up from the prior range of 8% to 9%.

For 2024, Coca-Cola said it anticipated a mid-single-digit headwind from currency fluctuations.

At 0802 EDT (1302 BST), shares in the Coca-Cola Company were up 2.44% in premarket trading at $55.40.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.