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The
company's shares rose about 3% in premarket trading after it
also topped expectations for third-quarter results.
Rival PepsiCo also beat analysts' expectations earlier this
month as consumers continued to spend on sodas, dubbed
"affordable luxuries", at a time of elevated food prices and
higher cost of living from sticky inflation.
Coca-Cola's average selling prices rose 9% in the third quarter,
the company said, while overall unit case volumes increased 2%.
Still, benefits from the increases are expected to moderate
nearly two years after many consumer goods companies hiked
product prices to shield themselves from rising labor and
transportation costs.
Investor focus has largely shifted to efforts to grow volumes as
cost of production eases while major firms including Procter &
Gamble face pressure from countries like France to cut prices
due to still strained purchasing power in many regions.
The average price of 192 ounces of Coca-Cola's soda in the U.S.
was $10.37 as of Sept. 9. It climbed to $9.25 in 2022 from $7.96
in 2021, according to NielsenIQ's data.
The beverage giant now expects organic revenue growth of 10% to
11% for the full year, compared with its prior forecast of an
increase of 8% to 9%.
The company forecast annual core earnings per share to rise
between 7% and 8%, compared with prior expectations of an
increase of 5% to 6%.
Net revenue rose nearly 8% to $11.91 billion in the third
quarter, compared with analysts' estimates of $11.44 billion,
according to LSEG data.
Adjusted earnings came in at 74 cents, compared with estimates
of 69 cents per share.
(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by
Sriraj Kalluvila)
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