Investing.com -- Diageo shares jumped more than 4% on Wednesday after the company posted third-quarter organic revenue growth that trumped analyst expectations.

Organic revenue grew 0.3% in the quarter, beating the 2.3% decline analysts had expected, with volumes also edging up 0.4%.

Regionally, Africa was the standout, with organic revenue surging 17.1% against a 9.3% consensus estimate, while Latin America and the Caribbean grew 16.2%, well ahead of the 6.6% expected. Europe rose 8.8%, also topping forecasts.

North America remained a weak spot, falling 9.4%, though that was slightly better than the 10% decline analysts had pencilled in. Asia-Pacific was broadly in line, slipping 0.8%.

Jefferies analysts said they "expect shares to be gently better today, given small beat and no further negative news."

"We do not expect F26 consensus to move. The strategy update 6 August will provide both an earnings floor and a plan to reset the trajectory from here," they wrote.

Diageo left its full-year guidance unchanged, continuing to expect organic net sales to decline 2% to 3% and organic operating profit to be flat to up by a low single-digit percentage.

The company maintained its free cash flow target of around $3 billion, up from $2.7 billion in fiscal 2025, including exceptional cash costs tied to its Accelerate restructuring programme.

Diageo also trimmed its foreign exchange headwind estimate at the top line to $70 million from a prior $100 million, though the expected impact on operating profit was left unchanged at $50 million.