Coca-Cola Stock Rises on Impressive Q1 Results
Coca-Cola (KO) impressed investors with better-than-expected revenue and earnings for the first quarter.
April 23 2019, Published 1:49 p.m. ET
Upbeat Q1 revenue growth
Coca-Cola (KO) stock was up 1.7% as of 11:42 AM EST today as the company impressed investors with better-than-expected revenue and earnings for the first quarter. Coca-Cola’s revenue rose 5.2% to $8.02 billion and exceeded analysts’ expectation of $7.88 billion. Coca-Cola’s reported revenue was back on the growth track after 15 quarters. The company’s previous quarters experienced lower revenue due to the impact of refranchising its bottling operations and currency headwinds.
Excluding the impact of foreign currency movements and structural items, Coca-Cola’s organic revenue growth was 6%. Coca-Cola’s top-line growth was driven by higher organic revenue across all its operating groups and two percentage points of favorable impact from bottlers building inventory due to the Brexit uncertainty.
Earnings in the first quarter
Coca-Cola’s adjusted EPS grew 2.1% to $0.48 in the first quarter driven by higher revenue, partially offset by adverse currency movements that dragged down EPS by 11 percentage points. Inventory build-up related to Brexit positively impacted EPS by $0.02. Analysts expected adjusted EPS of $0.46.
PepsiCo (PEP), the company’s closest rival, posted a 1.0% increase in its adjusted EPS to $0.97, and its organic revenue grew 5.2% in the first quarter. PepsiCo reaffirmed its organic revenue growth forecast of 4% for 2019. For more information on PepsiCo’s results, read PepsiCo Stock Rises after Crushing Q1 Expectations.
Coca-Cola also kept its organic revenue growth guidance intact at 4% for full-year 2019. Coca-Cola continues to expect its 2019 adjusted EPS growth to come in the -1.0% to 1.0% range compared to $2.08 in 2018.