Coca-Cola earnings beat estimates, fueled by price hikes and higher demand

Coca-Cola is expected to report its first-quarter earnings before the bell on Monday.

Here’s what Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv are projecting the company to report:

• Earnings per share: 64 cents
• Revenue: $10.8 billion

Like many consumer companies, the beverage giant has been raising prices to mitigate the impact of inflation. But consumers have begun cutting back their spending. In the fourth quarter, Coke reported its global unit case volume, which strips out the impact of price or currency changes, slipped 1%.

U.S. demand for Coke products has held up relatively well despite the price changes, but CEO James Quincey said in February that the European consumer has weakened. Other global consumer companies have reported similar behavior. Charmin owner Procter & Gamble said Friday that Europe was a drag on volume during its latest quarter. (Coke’s rival PepsiCo will report its first-quarter results on Tuesday.)

Despite macroeconomic uncertainty, Coke is projecting comparable revenue growth of 3% to 5% and comparable earnings per share growth of 4% to 5% for 2023.

Coke’s stock has risen less than 1% in 2023. The company has a market value of $277 billion.