Coca-Cola Posts 91 Cents Adjusted EPS on $13.4B Revenue as North America Volume Stays Flat

Coca-ColaKO reported adjusted earnings per share of 91 cents on revenue of $13.4B for the third quarter, topping the 88 cents analysts expected, and raised its guidance.

Global volume grew 5%, an acceleration from historical levels, even as North America volume came in flat.

Price increases carried the quarter in the home market, where the restaurant industry stayed a pressure point for the North American segment.

Gen Z drinkers are driving a resurgence in Diet Coke, one of the few bright spots in US consumption.

India and Brazil carried the volume

Strength in India and Brazil offset the flat North American performance, extending a pattern of emerging markets doing the heavy lifting.

Chief Financial Officer John Murphy pointed to underlying momentum in the business and the company's ability to price without losing drinkers.

Analysts largely stayed bullish, framing the quarter as evidence that Coca-Cola is pulling away from rivals including PepsiCoPEP.

Investors are paying for defensive qualities and pricing power in an uneven macroeconomic environment, a theme running through several of the post-earnings notes.

Input costs are the 2027 problem

Rising aluminum, PET, and diesel costs tied to the US war in Iran loom as a headwind next year.

Those three inputs sit at the center of Coca-Cola's cost base, covering cans, bottles, and the trucks that move them.

Scale cuts both ways here, because further growth increasingly depends on pricing adjustments or entering new markets rather than selling more cases in mature ones.

Analysts still expect revenue to decline 3.5% over the next 12 months, a reminder that a strong quarter doesn't reset the trajectory.

Higher packaging and fuel costs could squeeze 2027 unless Coca-Cola keeps raising prices without denting volume.