Coca-Cola’s third-quarter revenue topped analysts’ expectations on Wednesday due to a boost from higher prices that offset a surprise drop in volumes.
The drinks soda giant posted revenue of $11.9bn, beating expectations of $11.6bn.
The company reported unit case volume fell 1% in the quarter, driven by weakening demand in some international markets. This metric strips out the impact of pricing and foreign currency to reflect demand.
Volumes fell 2% in Asia Pacific as well as the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region. They were flat in North America and Latin America.
Coca-Cola said its pricing rose 10%, with about 4% of that coming from markets “experiencing intense inflation” while the rest is from price hikes and customers trading up to more expensive options.
The company now predicts full-year organic revenue growth of 10% compared with the previous outlook of 9%-10%. This is due to the “pricing impact of a number of markets experiencing intense inflation”.
“While the headline was stronger and the guidance [raised] … most of the positive surprise came from better-than-expected price mix, while volumes were softer,” wrote JP Morgan analyst Andrea Teixeira.
Coca-Cola’s rival PepsiCo revised its 2024 sales outlook earlier this month after its North America and international sales lagged expectations in the third quarter.
Shares of Coca-Cola fell 2% as markets opened in the US on Wednesday morning but are up about 14% in 2024.
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