Q4 Preview: While Near-Term Concerns Remain, Analysts Bullish Into Coca-Cola (KO) Results
KO Hot Sheet
Rating Summary:8 Buy, 4 Hold, 0 Sell
Rating Trend:
Down
Today's Overall Ratings:
Up: 0 | Down: 0 | New: 0
Shares of The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) closed down very modestly Monday ahead of the release of its fourth-quarter results before the opening bell on Tuesday, February 7th.
The Street consensus for Coke is $0.77 per share in earnings on $10.99 billion in sales. During the fourth quarter of last year, the company reported earnings of $0.72 per share on $10.50 billion in total sales.
For the full year 2011, analysts on the Street are currently estimating $3.82 per share in earnings on $46.50 billion in total sales.
The fourth quarter conference call is scheduled for 9:30 am ET on February 7, 2012.
According to data from Bloomberg, shares of Coca-Cola Co. have 18 Buy ratings, four Hold ratings and zero Sell ratings. The average price target on shares of KO is $75 with a range from $73 to $78.
Analyst Comments:
Wells Fargo believes shares of KO offer investors the best risk/reward proposition among the beverage stocks which the firm covers. Wells Fargo said investors need to look past the short-term currency pressures and focus on the long-term growth outlook and potential. For the quarter, Wells Fargo forecasts earning per share of $0.79 on $11.02 billion in total revenue.
An analyst at Wells Fargo commented, “The bottom line is that we are confident KO' long-term fundamentals and earnings growth will eventually trump short-termism, and recommend that investors take advantage of the current buying opportunity.”
Wells Fargo maintains an Outperform rating on the company going into the release.
Goldman Sachs has a neutral bias on shares of KO going into the quarter, but is bullish on the long-term given the pricing changes. “We expect 2012 commentary to be a bit mixed as sustained strength in pricing is likely to be offset by some volume deceleration,” an analyst at Goldman reported. “That said, we maintain our Buy rating on KO and expect the shares to outperform this year as robust EM growth, improving pricing in NA and moderating commodity inflation drive healthy FX-neutral profit growth of 9%.”
Goldman increased its price target on the company by $1 to $77 ahead of the release.
Deutsche Bank forecasts earnings of $0.76 per share on a 5.2 percent increase in total revenues.
An analyst at Deutsche stated, “Relative to the global consumer staples names we track, organic growth trends at Coke have outpaced the industry for the last several quarters, a trend that should persist this quarter as the company continues to support its brands even with commodity inflation. At this point in the cycle, consumer staples should outperform given relative earnings growth, and Coke has become a safe haven in this environment/cycle.”
Deutsche reiterated a Buy rating and $75 price target on the company.
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The Street consensus for Coke is $0.77 per share in earnings on $10.99 billion in sales. During the fourth quarter of last year, the company reported earnings of $0.72 per share on $10.50 billion in total sales.
For the full year 2011, analysts on the Street are currently estimating $3.82 per share in earnings on $46.50 billion in total sales.
The fourth quarter conference call is scheduled for 9:30 am ET on February 7, 2012.
According to data from Bloomberg, shares of Coca-Cola Co. have 18 Buy ratings, four Hold ratings and zero Sell ratings. The average price target on shares of KO is $75 with a range from $73 to $78.
Analyst Comments:
Wells Fargo believes shares of KO offer investors the best risk/reward proposition among the beverage stocks which the firm covers. Wells Fargo said investors need to look past the short-term currency pressures and focus on the long-term growth outlook and potential. For the quarter, Wells Fargo forecasts earning per share of $0.79 on $11.02 billion in total revenue.
An analyst at Wells Fargo commented, “The bottom line is that we are confident KO' long-term fundamentals and earnings growth will eventually trump short-termism, and recommend that investors take advantage of the current buying opportunity.”
Wells Fargo maintains an Outperform rating on the company going into the release.
Goldman Sachs has a neutral bias on shares of KO going into the quarter, but is bullish on the long-term given the pricing changes. “We expect 2012 commentary to be a bit mixed as sustained strength in pricing is likely to be offset by some volume deceleration,” an analyst at Goldman reported. “That said, we maintain our Buy rating on KO and expect the shares to outperform this year as robust EM growth, improving pricing in NA and moderating commodity inflation drive healthy FX-neutral profit growth of 9%.”
Goldman increased its price target on the company by $1 to $77 ahead of the release.
Deutsche Bank forecasts earnings of $0.76 per share on a 5.2 percent increase in total revenues.
An analyst at Deutsche stated, “Relative to the global consumer staples names we track, organic growth trends at Coke have outpaced the industry for the last several quarters, a trend that should persist this quarter as the company continues to support its brands even with commodity inflation. At this point in the cycle, consumer staples should outperform given relative earnings growth, and Coke has become a safe haven in this environment/cycle.”
Deutsche reiterated a Buy rating and $75 price target on the company.
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