Coca-Cola stock pops as earnings top estimates amid ‘challenging’ environment

October 21, 2025

Coca-Cola (KO) posted earnings results that beat Wall Street’s expectations on Tuesday, continuing an early streak of strong third quarter reports from consumer-facing companies.

Adjusted earnings came in at $0.82, compared to Wall Street estimates of $0.78, per Bloomberg data. Organic revenue grew 6%, slightly higher than analyst estimates.

“While the overall environment has continued to be challenging, we’ve stayed flexible — adapting plans where needed and investing for growth,” chairman and CEO James Quincey said in a statement.

He added that offering “choice” across its “total beverage portfolio” and “leveraging our franchise model’s unique strengths” it was able to gain and strengthen its “leadership position.”

The stock popped more than 2% in pre-market trading.

Its global unit volume grew 1%, compared to a 0.75% increase expected. That’s still lower than the 4% and 6% growth the metric saw back in third quarter of 2022 and 2021, respectively.

In Europe, Middle East, and Africa unit case volume jumped 4%, but was flat in both North America and Latin America. Its Asian Pacific segment saw volume decline by 1%. A standout in the quarter was its Coca-Cola Zero Sugar option, which grew 14%, driven by growth across all regions.

Other areas showed signs of weakness. Juice, value-added dairy and plant-based beverage saw volume drop 3%. The company said it saw growth in Latin America, but that was offset by a decline in Asia.

Its water business saw 3% volume growth, boosted by all regions, while North America was the primarily catalyst behind sports drink volume, up 3% globally. Trademark Coca-Cola saw volume decline in the US.

Coca Cola bottles are neatly arranged on a supermarket shelf, highlighting the popular soft drink. This is suitable for editorial use in retail, beverages, consumer products, and lifestyle contexts in Bari, Italy, on September 22, 2025. (Photo by Matteo Della Torre/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Coca Cola bottles are neatly arranged on a supermarket shelf, highlighting the popular soft drink. This is suitable for editorial use in retail, beverages, consumer products, and lifestyle contexts in Bari, Italy, on September 22, 2025. (Photo by Matteo Della Torre/NurPhoto via Getty Images) · NurPhoto via Getty Images

Earlier this year, Coca-Cola said drinks with real cane sugar are coming to its US portfolio this fall, but the high fructose corn syrup that is a staple in its current lineup is still here to stay.

The company also maintained its fiscal 2025 guidance. It still expects adjusted earnings growth of approximately 3%, alongside net revenue growth of 1% to 2%.

These results come after rival PepsiCo (PEP) beat Wall Street projections on both the top and bottom lines in the third quarter, while saying its US snacking business remains turbulent.

Coca-Cola stock is up about 10%, compared to PepsiCo’s flat run year-to-date.

Brooke DiPalma is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X at @BrookeDiPalma or email her at bdipalma@yahoofinance.com.

 

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