Coca-Cola (KO)

[Mr_Boring]

Nothing beat the original coke. Dunno why they keep wasting money to change taste when they have a winner.

[kennynah]

bcos the impression is that original coke is very fattening...the amount of sugar content is indeed very high...

i prefer coke light, coke light with lemon to coke zero...coke zero tastes odd to me....just like using artificial sugar in coffee...

and you are right....coke is "the real thing"

[winston]

Coca-Cola second-quarter profit tops expectations

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, as growth in markets such as India and China helped offset the impact of the stronger U.S. dollar.

The world's largest soft-drink maker earned $2.04 billion, or 88 cents per share, in the second quarter that ended July 3, compared with $1.42 billion, or 61 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, Coke earned 92 cents per share, topping analysts' average forecast of 89 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Operating revenue fell 9 percent to $8.27 billion, while sales by volume rose 4 percent.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola's broad geographic footprint, especially in developing markets such as India and China, has helped it weather an industry-wide slowdown in the United States. Coke gets the bulk of its revenue from abroad, where soft-drink sales are still growing despite the weak economy.

Coke's shares rose more than 1 percent to $51.56 in premarket trading.

[winston]

If Coke is blaming the economy then how are the other companies doing ??

The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) blamed a weak economy after it missed analysts' revenue estimates for its third quarter.

The soft drink maker's revenue fell to $8.04 billion, missing Thomson Reuters Corp. (NYSE: TRI) analysts' estimates of $8.11 billion. Coca-Cola's net income was $1.90 billion, or 81 cents per share, roughly flat from last year's profit of $1.89 billion or 81 cents per share.

"We expect the consumer to continue facing economic uncertainties into 2010 and for consumer sentiment to recover slowly," Chief Executive Officer Muhtar Kent said. T

The company repurchased $241 million of its stock, and intends to repurchase up to $1 billion of stock by the end of the year, it said. Shares of the company closed at $54.07, down 1.31%.

Source: Money Morning

[winston]

Not vested

Coca-Cola 3Q net income rises 8.4 percent

Coca-Cola Co.'s third-quarter net income rose 8.4 percent as it sold more of its soft drinks and juices around the world and U.S. sales extended their rebound.

The world's largest soft drink maker said Tuesday it earned $2.06 billion or 88 cents per share in the three months ending Oct. 1, up from $1.9 billion or 81 cents per share last year.

Revenue rose 4.7 percent to $8.43 billion.

Analysts expected the company to earn 89 cents per share on revenue of $8.3 billion in the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters.

For the second quarter in a row, the company sold more drinks in North America. The figure rose 2 percent. Coca-Cola's gain in the measurement last quarter marked the first increase in four years.

Worldwide, the figure rose 5 percent.

The soft drink industry has been hurting in the U.S. and other developed countries as shoppers limit their purchases in the weak economy. Shoppers are also turning to juices and teas for health reasons.

The company saw no gains in the amount of soft drinks it sold in the U.S., but it also saw no declines. Coca-Cola Zero posted double-digit volume growth, and Sprite and Fanta were also top performers.

Sales of juices and teas rose again, as the Atlanta-based company sold 8 percent more in the quarter. Powerade's sales volume rose 32 percent and Simply juices rose 23 percent.

Volume in Europe was flat, although France, the Nordic region and Great Britain, among other regions, showed gains. Eurasia and Africa and the Pacific's volume grew at least 11 percent.

Latin American volume grew 4 percent, on top of a 7 percent jump last year in the quarter.

Coca-Cola has been investing to expand its presence in emerging markets such as Brazil, China, India and elsewhere to hook shoppers as they earn more money to spend on discretionary purchases, such as soft drinks.

Source: AP News

[winston]

Not vested

Coke seen posting higher profit on North America growth

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street will look to see if three is a charm for Coca-Cola's North American sales when the world's top soft drink maker posts earnings on Wednesday.

Coca-Cola <KO.N>, whose brands include Sprite and vitaminwater, has made boosting its share of the ailing North American market a top goal, and has already seen two straight quarters of growth there after more than two years of declines.

Some analysts, including Ali Dibadj from Bernstein, expect a 1 percent rise in North American sales for the fourth quarter, compared with a 2 percent increase in the second and third quarters.

This will be the first quarter in which Coke's results include its North American bottling operations, acquired in October as a way to improve performance by cutting costs, speeding innovation and giving it more control over distribution.

"We expect to hear continued confidence in the current state of the business and overall (Coke) system, and also that the early aspects of the (bottler) integration have been running on or ahead of schedule," Dibadj said in a note.

"Although we don't expect to hear too much incremental news on commodity inflation, we will be interested in the degree to which Coke plans to implement higher pricing as an offset."

Dibadj has an "outperform" rating on Coke as well as its rivals PepsiCo Inc <PEP.N> and Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc <DPS.N>.

PepsiCo will report earnings on Thursday.

Analysts on average expect Coke to report earnings of 72 cents per share on revenue of $9.75 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company reported earnings of 66 cents per share on revenue of $7.51 billion a year earlier.

Coke's shares, which closed at $62.87 on Tuesday, have gained 6.3 percent since early October, when it closed its bottler acquisition. It has underperformed the wider Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX>, which gained 15.6 percent over the same period, but outpaced a 4.2 percent decline by rival PepsiCo.

Source: Reuters US Online Report Business News

[iam802]

Most of the tech stocks are not breaking out.

But, Coca Cola is....and at 52 week high.

--


Coca Cola ($KO) has a pretty good run yesterday despite the average volume.

From the Ichimoku Chart, we can see how it opens low on Sept 6 and close high for the day. On Sept 6, the market is generally rallying upwards. What separates it from the rest is that $KO is supported by the kumo and it closes above the kumo; a breakout signal from the kumo.

The second confirmation comes the following day on Sept 7.

$KO gap up and make a move; breaking 2 resistance levels in one move and hitting a 52 week high in the process.

I believe $KO is going to head higher.

A peak at its Financial Ratio for Q3 (July 2011) from Google Finance suggest so.

__________________________Q3 (Jul ’11)____2010
Net profit margin____________22.01%_______33.77%
Operating margin____________24.92%_______24.06%
EBITD margin_______________-_____________27.78%



The third confirmation from the chart comes from the leading kumo.
We can see that it has ‘twisted’ and is showing a bullish trend moving forward; reversing from its previously bearish outlook.

Note:

$KO reporting earnings before market on Oct 18

[winston]

Coca-Cola Q3 Profit Grows

The Coca-Cola Company's (KO) third-quarter net income attributable to shareowners of the company grew 8% to $2.22 billion from $2.05 billion last year.

On a per share basis, quarterly reported GAAP earnings increased to $0.95 from $0.88 in the year earlier period.


http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1735845

[winston]

not vested

Best Dividend Stocks Shelling Out for 100-Plus Years: The Coca-Cola Co (KO)
Dividend Yield: 3.2%
Dividends Paid Since: 1893

The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO), like Chevron, could also be considered a contrarian investment, albeit for different reasons.

With Chevron, a strong dollar, an oversupply of oil and a fracture in OPEC’s united front are each pressuring oil prices.

With Coca-Cola, it’s not a supply-side problem. Demand is falling off.

There’s a serious shift in consumer demand away from soda — a shift that’s amounted to 10 straight years of falling North American soda sales, and toward products with a more organic bent and natural ingredients. That’s a longer, more disturbing trend than a one-year decline in oil prices.

Of course, any stock that’s a cornerstone of Warren Buffett’s portfolio can’t be too fraught with risk, and KO stock certainly isn’t. In fact, it has been growing its dividend for 52 consecutive years, so I wouldn’t worry about that going away anytime soon.

Coca-Cola isn’t blind to this shift in consumer tastes. Energy drinks are the only carbonated beverage category showing any meaningful degree of growth, and Coca-Cola hopes to leverage this through a 17% stake in Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ:MNST), fueling speculation that KO may eventually just buy MNST outright.

Source: InvestorPlace

[winston]

not vested

‘Safe’ Stocks to Buy: The Coca-Cola Co (KO)

While a sharp loss from the stock market may crimp purchases of cars and vacations until confidence is restored, consumers are likely to keep in grabbing that 12 (or 20) ounces of cool, caffeinated goodness without a second thought.

In other words, The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO) has little to worry about in any conceivable environment.

Coca-Cola, however, also has something of an ace up its sleeve … a relationship with Keurig Green Mountain Inc (NASDAQ:GMCR).

Specifically, Coca-Cola carbonated drinks can be created using the Keurig Kold. The response to the Keurig Kold has been lukewarm so far (and even bordering on disappointing), and it’s not even on the market yet.

But that’s not the point.

When the market is falling apart, it’s all about perception. And the perception is, Coke has a money-saving solution in the works. That mental connection will further help keep KO afloat when other stocks are sinking in the meantime.

The clincher is the dividend. KO yields a healthy 3.2% payout, and cash payments become even more important when investors suspect capital appreciation is off the table.

Source: Investor Place