ZVIA - Coca-Cola starts off the earnings season for the beverage sector with a strong print

2023-04-24 10:02:40 ET

Coca-Cola ( NYSE: KO ) opened trading on Monday with a 1.15% push higher after topping estimates with its Q1 earnings report. Organic sales of 12% easily beat the consensus expectations for a rise of 9.6% as higher pricing and a favorable product mix factored in.

On Wall Street, the reaction from analysts has been highly favorable. Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight rating. Analyst Dara Mohsenian and team's breakdown was that underlying momentum for Coca-Cola ( KO ) remains robust and full-year EPS visibility has increased after the better than expected Q1. While the beverage giant only maintained full-year EPS guidance due to the volatile external environment, the firm sees a setup for an earning beat down the road.

Wells Fargo said Coca-Cola ( KO ) overcame the sales bar, which had been a concern. Strength in the away-from-home category was noted to helpo KO over delivee on volume. Overall, the earnings report was called a strong first volley into a 2023 where KO looks to be ahead of plan.

Meanwhile, Bank of America maintained a Buy rating and price objective of $74 on KO that is based ona 26X multiple to the firm's FY24 EPS estimate. While the multiple was noted to be a premium to the sector, Coca-Cola's ( KO ) ability to generate KO topline outperformance is said to make it worthy of the higher PE.

Sector watch: Zevia PBC ( ZVIA ) +4.84% , Vita Coco ( COCO ) +0.99% , Celsius Holdings ( CELH ) +0.75% , PepsiCo ( PEP ) +0.59% , National Beverage ( FIZZ ) +0.57% , and Keurig Dr Pepper ( KDP ) +0.49% .

More on Coca-Cola:

• Read the post-earnings breakdown on Coca-Cola from Seeking Alpha analyst Tradevestor
• View the growth metrics
• See the comparisons to sector peers
• Dig into the Seeking Alpha Quant Rating
• Review the highlights from the Coca-Cola earnings report

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