Coca Cola says its newly launched products helped fuel sales in the fourth quarter

The Coca Cola Company announced its quarterly performance results on Thursday that beat analysts’ estimate for revenue. The company cited new products to have fueled higher sales in the recent quarter. In morning trading, Coca Cola gained 2.7% in the stock market. In the past 12 months, the American multinational nonalcoholic beverage maker has climbed 22% in the stock market. Coca Cola is currently valued at $247 billion.

According to Refinitiv, analysts had expected $8.89 billion in revenue for Coca Cola in the fourth quarter. Beating the estimate, the company recorded a higher $9.07 billion in revenue in its Thursday’s report. On the earnings front, however, the company matched with the experts’ forecast of 44 cents in Q4.

Net Sales Expanded By 16% For Coca Cola In Q4

The beverage giant also highlighted its net income in the earnings report at $2.07 billion in the fourth quarter. In the same quarter last year, its net income was capped at $870 million. For net sales in the recent quarter, analysts had expected the company to note $8.89 billion. With an increase of 16% (year over year), Coca Cola announced to have made $9.07 billion worth of net sales in Q4.

As per the company, new products like Coke Plus Coffee contributed the most in branding the recent quarter as Coca Cola’s best in terms of performance in the past eight years. Coke Zero Sugar’s expansion in the fourth quarter also helped improve the quarterly sales figure further. With soda consumption dropping sharply in the U.S, the Coca Cola company is now committed to launching alternative, healthier options to its consumers that saw it stepping into novel categories. For instance, in December, the beverage maker launched a new drink in the United States by the name of Coke Energy.  

Global Organic Revenues Hiked By 7% In Q4

Coca Cola also revealed its coffee and teas under the Fuze brand to have pushed the sales higher in Q4. Further improvement stemmed from greater demand for its higher-priced products as well as an extra day of sales in the recent quarter. Global organic revenues saw a 7% hike in Q4 while the North American segment remained flat on average in terms of unit case volume.

Volume in other segments like Africa, the Middle East, and Europe climbed 4% in the quarter while a 3% growth in volume was observed in the Latin America region. The company also accentuated its Asia Pacific unit to have surged 2% in terms of unit case volume despite lower than expected sales in China.

In fiscal 2020, the Coca Cola company now expects its global organic revenue to climb 5% and EPS (earnings per share) to gain 7% and post at $2.25 (1 cent below the expert’s forecast of $2.26).