No sugar drinks and innovations power Coke in 3Q
by The Associated Press
The Atlanta company books double-digit volume growth as it keeps pace with changing and diversifying consumer tastes
ATLANTA – Coca-Cola reported strong third quarter sales as it makes strides with new drinks like Coca-Cola Plus Coffee and no-sugar drinks.
Revenue jumped 8% to $9.51 billion, edging out Wall Street expectations for US$9.48 billion, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research.
The Atlanta company continues to book double-digit volume growth with drinks like Coca-Cola Zero Sugar. Coke also experienced double-digit growth in 7.5-oz. mini cans.
The company announced that Coca-Cola Energy and Coca-Cola Energy Cherry – a flavour exclusive to the U.S. – and their zero-calorie counterparts will be available in 12-oz. cans nationwide starting in January 2020. Coke said that the launch is part of its ongoing effort to keep pace with the changing and diversifying tastes of consumers.
Coke on Friday reported net income of $2.59 billion, or 60 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 56 cents per share, which is in line with projections from industry analysts.
Earlier this month rival PepsiCo Inc. reported third-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations.
Shares of Coca-Cola Co. rose 1.5% before the opening bell.
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Portions of this story were generated by Automated Insights
(http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment
Research.
