Coca-Cola beats earnings despite Q3 volume dip

NEW YORK, the United States | Xinhua | Coca-Cola shares fell nearly 2 percent on Wednesday after the company reported weaker-than-expected third-quarter unit case volumes.

The 2 percent decline in concentrate shipments, attributed to the timing of deliveries, led to an overall 1 percent year-over-year drop in unit case volumes. Volumes decreased by 2 percent in both the Asia Pacific and the Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions, while remaining flat in North America and Latin America.

Despite these challenges, Coca-Cola surpassed Bloomberg consensus estimates in its third-quarter report. The company reported revenue of 11.9 billion U.S. dollars, exceeding the estimated 11.61 billion dollars. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 0.77 dollars, above the forecasted 0.74 dollars. Coca-Cola also saw price/mix growth of 10 percent, significantly higher than the anticipated 6.51 percent. However, unit case volume growth missed the expected increase of 0.42 percent.

Acknowledging the temporary setbacks, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey expressed confidence in the company’s ability to manage short-term difficulties while maintaining focus on long-term growth. “While it can be tempting to rush to deem product innovation a success or a failure, it can take around a decade to work out if big innovation bids have truly arrived at scale”, said Quincey.

Quincey also discussed the company’s recent expansion into the alcohol category. Over the past few years, the beverage giant has ventured into the ready-to-drink alcohol market, launching collaborations like Sprite with Absolut and Coca-Cola with Jack Daniels. Looking ahead, Coca-Cola plans to release a mixed rum and Coke product in 2025, in partnership with Bacardi.

“There’s part of the world where consumers continue to be fairly resilient,” Coca-Cola CFO John Murphy said, calling Coca-Cola “a beneficiary” in developed markets. “On the positive side, we’ve seen spending pulling up, we have seen some of the drivers of that going forward sentiment, employment interest rates … moving in a better direction,” Murphy said, “On the flip side, there’s a lot of variables out there that are still uncertain, but at the root of it all, consumers continue to spend.”

The company now expects full-year organic revenue growth of 10 percent, slightly above its previous guidance of 9-10 percent. Despite the stock’s decline on Wednesday, Coca-Cola shares have risen by around 15 percent year-to-date. ■