It's Hard Not To Be Proud of Coca-Cola (KO, PEP)

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO) has reported $0.85 EPS vs. $0.82 estimate from First Call. The net EPS was $0.80 after a $0.05 in one-time charges.  Revenues were the real gainer with $7.73 billion, compared to estimates of $7.345 billion and compared to last year’s $6.48 billion.  Total unit case volume increased 6% for the quarter, although North American unit case volumes declined 2% in the quarter.  The 9% international case volumes led to the strong gains.  Part of the international gains can directly be tied to the weak dollar and strength in overseas purchasing power.

It is hard to imagine that you will see much as far as negative analyst calls with these numbers this strong.  After the round of upgrades seen earlier in the year, it’s probably safe to expect more positive comments from Wall Street.  As a reminder, this is one of the Warren Buffett holdings that has been reviewed.

In pre-market trading, Coca-Cola shares are up more than 1% at $54.45, within a few pennies of the $54.49 highs over the last 52-weeks.  No trades have been seen in rival Pepsico (NYSE:PEP).

Jon C. Ogg
July 17, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at [email protected]; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.