Coke Has Awful Quarter, but There's an Upside

Coca-Cola just saw its quarterly revenue drop by the largest amount in at least three decades, reports CNBC. In normal times, a 28% plunge to $7.2 billion would be catastrophic. In pandemic times, the overall earnings report from the company is seen as "upbeat," per MarketWatch. Shares of Coke rose around 3% after the earnings report came out, part of the reason the Dow was up about 300 points in morning trading. The reason for investors' positive reaction is that the company thinks the worst of its pandemic-related losses are over, reports the Wall Street Journal.

"Here in the US, we're seeing a spike [in coronavirus cases] in a number of places, but the degree of lockdown is not nearly what it was," says Coke finance chief John Murphy. He adds that China, Southeast Asia, and Europe have done a "pretty good job in managing the worst stages of the pandemic." About half the company's sales come from stadiums, movie theaters, and other such locales, per the AP, and analysts were braced for a bad quarter. Coke says worldwide sales began to pick up last month. (More Coca-Cola stories.)