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The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) last week reported its latest quarterly results, which makes it a good time for investors to dive in and see if the business is performing in line with expectations. Revenues were US$11b, approximately in line with expectations, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) performed substantially better. EPS of US$0.77 were also better than expected, beating analyst predictions by 10%. The analysts typically update their forecasts at each earnings report, and we can judge from their estimates whether their view of the company has changed or if there are any new concerns to be aware of. We've gathered the most recent statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their earnings models, following these results.
After the latest results, the 21 analysts covering Coca-Cola are now predicting revenues of US$48.1b in 2025. If met, this would reflect a credible 2.6% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to expand 15% to US$2.89. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$48.0b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.86 in 2025. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.
See our latest analysis for Coca-Cola
There were no changes to revenue or earnings estimates or the price target of US$77.48, suggesting that the company has met expectations in its recent result. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Coca-Cola at US$86.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$59.60. As you can see, analysts are not all in agreement on the stock's future, but the range of estimates is still reasonably narrow, which could suggest that the outcome is not totally unpredictable.
Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that Coca-Cola's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2025 expected to display 3.5% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 7.4% over the past five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 4.5% per year. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that Coca-Cola is also expected to grow slower than other industry participants.