Coca-Cola Earnings Preview: What to Expect

Coca-Cola Co cold cola by- Fotoatelie via iStock

Atlanta, Georgia-based The Coca-Cola Company (KO) is the world’s largest non-alcoholic beverages brand. It offers sparkling soft drinks, water, coffee, value-added dairy, plant-based beverages, and more. With a market cap of $287.4 billion, Coca-Cola’s operations span all across the globe.

The soft drinks giant is gearing up to announce its third-quarter results on Tuesday, Oct. 21. Ahead of the event, analysts expect Coca-Cola to deliver a non-GAAP profit of $0.78 per share, up a modest 1.3% from $0.77 per share reported in the year-ago quarter. The company has a solid earnings surprise history. It has surpassed the Street’s bottom-line estimates in each of the past four quarters.

For the full fiscal 2025, analysts expect Coca-Cola to report an adjusted EPS of $2.97, up 3.1% from $2.88 reported in 2024. While in fiscal 2026, its earnings are expected to surge 8.4% year-over-year to $3.22 per share.

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KO stock prices have declined 6.9% over the past 52 weeks, notably underperforming the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX17.6% gains and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLP5% dip during the same time frame.

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Coca-Cola’s stock prices observed a marginal dip in the trading session following the release of its mixed Q2 results on Jul. 22. The company’s organic revenues grew by a solid 5%. However, its overall topline was negatively impacted by a drop in sales in Indo-Pacific and Latin America. Its net operating revenues came in at $12.5 billion, up a modest 1.4% year-over-year, missing the Street’s expectations by 43 bps. Nonetheless, driven by a slight decline in cost of goods sold, Coca-Cola’s adjusted EPS inched up 4% year-over-year to $0.87, beating the consensus estimates by 4.8%.

Analysts remain bullish on the stock’s prospects. KO has a consensus “Strong Buy” rating overall. Of the 24 analysts covering the stock, opinions include 20 “Strong Buys,” two “Moderate Buys,” and two “Holds.” KO’s mean price target of $79.26 suggests a 19.9% upside potential from current price levels.


On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.