MW Coca-Cola leaves profit outlook intact, says tariffs are 'manageable'

By Tomi Kilgore

Stock gains as quarterly profit beats expectations, while revenue slipped as growth in case volume and price was offset by negative currency moves

Shares of Coca-Cola Co. were climbing in early Tuesday trading, after the beverage giant extended its long streak of earnings beats amid increases in both case volumes and prices.

The company held firm with its full-year profit growth outlook, as the impact of tariffs is expected to be limited.

The stock $(KO)$ rose 1.2% in premarket trading, which put it on track to snap a four-day losing streak.

The company said it still expects 2025 comparable earnings per share, which excludes nonrecurring items, to increase 2% to 3% from the $2.88 reported for 2024. The current FactSet EPS consensus of $2.96 implies 2.8% growth.

While Coca-Cola generates more than 60% of its revenue from outside the U.S., Chief Executive James Quincey has explained that tariffs aren't really a problem, because the company mostly produces where it sells.

"The company's operations are primarily local, however, it is subject to global trade dynamics which may impact certain components of the company's cost structure across its markets," the company said in a statement. "At this time, the company expects the impact to be manageable."

For the first quarter to March 31, comparable EPS grew 1% from a year ago to 73 cents, which topped the FactSet consensus of 72 cents. That marked at least the 22nd straight quarter of bottom-line beats, based on available FactSet data back to January 2020.

Revenue fell 1.5% to $11.13 billion. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted revenue eased 0.1% to $11.22 billion. The FactSet revenue consensus was $11.16 billion.

Currency moves had a negative impact on revenue of 5 percentage points, while unit case volume increased by 2%, led by India, China and Brazil, and price and mix grew 5%.

Trademark Coca-Cola volume increased 1%, while Coca-Cola Zero Sugar volumes jumped 14%. Sparkling soft drinks volume grew 2%, as did volumes for water, sports, coffee and tea.

In North America, case volume declined 3% but price and mix rose 8%.

Coca-Cola's stock has run up 15.3% in 2025 through Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA has slipped 5.5%.

-Tomi Kilgore

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April 29, 2025 07:50 ET (11:50 GMT)

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