Coca-Cola earnings: third quarter 2026

Coca-Cola's third quarter of 2026 was a quarter of rising profit and rising expectations. Profit from running the business grew faster than sales, adjusted earnings per share rose 11%, and the company raised its forecasts for the year for sales, profit per share and cash. Latin America led the way, and the soft spot was North America, its biggest market, where the amount of drink sold did not grow at all. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Earnings per share were $0.93 as reported and $0.91 on the company's adjusted measure, both above the $0.87 that analysts expected on average, according to Nasdaq's earnings calendar. ¹²

The strong points

• On the company's own adjusted measure, the profit from running the business took a bigger slice of every dollar of sales, 32.9% against 31.9% a year ago. ¹
• Adjusted earnings per share rose 11% to $0.91, the company's own figure. ¹
• Latin America was the standout region, selling 6% more drink than a year earlier. ¹

The weak points

• In North America, the largest part of the business, the amount of drink sold did not grow, and sales rose only 3%, mostly from higher prices. ¹
• Cash from running the business more than tripled over nine months, but mostly because last year's $8 billion drain into day-to-day working capital did not repeat. ¹
• For 2027 the company warns that selling businesses, mainly its African bottling operations, will cut reported sales by about 8%. ¹

What the company expects

• Coca-Cola raised its forecast for profit per share this year and now expects comparable earnings per share to grow at least 11%, up from 9% to 10%. ¹
• It also nudged up its sales forecast and now expects organic sales growth of at least 5% for the year, up from about 5%. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A very strong report. Profit grew faster than sales and came in above what analysts expected, and the company raised its forecasts for the year, with only flat volumes in North America holding the picture back.

The results as published

• The results release itself
• The filing it came with (SEC)

Notes

1. Coca-Cola's results release, 27 October 2026: sec.gov. ↩
2. Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 27 October 2026. ↩