Coca-Cola Earnings: What to Watch

By Jennifer Maloney 

Coca-Cola Co. is scheduled to announce its fourth-quarter earnings before the market opens Thursday. Here's what you need to know:

EARNINGS FORECAST: Earnings per share of 37 cents is the consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, down from 38 cents per share a year earlier.

REVENUE FORECAST: Analysts expect revenue of $9.14 billion, compared with $10 billion a year earlier.

WHAT TO WATCH:

NEW CEO: Coke in December said that its operations chief James Quincey would succeed Muhtar Kent as CEO, and Wall Street will be eager for clues about what Mr. Quincey has in store for the company once he takes over in May. He has said, for example, that he would like to go faster in diversifying Coke's beverage portfolio.

COST SAVINGS: Investors will be listening for details on Coke's cost-cutting efforts as the company targets $3 billion in annual savings by 2019.

BOTTLING: As it focuses on its more profitable concentrate business, Coke is divesting from its bottling operations, with a self-imposed deadline of December 2017 for its reorganization in the U.S. Coke has estimated that the divestments would lower its revenue for 2016, and it will likely discuss the impact that this restructuring will have in the year ahead.

SODA TAXES: One of the company's biggest challenges is the increasing number of governments weighing special taxes on sugary drinks as they attempt to fight rising obesity and diabetes rates. Five U.S. municipalities, including Chicago's Cook County and San Francisco, approved sweetened-drink taxes in November, and the U.K. plans to introduce a levy in 2018. Coke may discuss the taxes and how it plans to address them, including its efforts to expand its selection of low- and zero-calorie drinks.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 08, 2017 08:14 ET (13:14 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.