The Coca-Cola Company · Q2 2026 call

We grew volume 5%, aided by cycling an easier prior-year comparison, and we grew organic revenue at the high end of our long-term growth algorithm. Looking at the two-year average, we grew volume 2%, reflective of a more balanced contribution to the top line growth.

Across much of the world, we see an uneven consumer environment. The economy is strong in many places, yet many consumers face inflationary pressures, geopolitical uncertainty, and economic challenges. They are evaluating how they shop, what they value, and what they want to put in their basket.

Activating around the FIFA World Cup contributed to Trademark Coca-Cola volume growth of 5% for the quarter, its strongest volume growth in 17 years, excluding COVID recovery.

Comparable gross margin increased approximately 120 basis points, and comparable operating margin increased approximately 90 basis points. Both were driven by underlying expansion and currency tailwinds.

Free cash flow was approximately $6.9 billion, an increase versus the prior year. Our balance sheet remained strong with our net debt leverage of 1.4 times EBITDA, which is below our target range of 2 to 2.5 times.

With respect to our ongoing dispute with the US Internal Revenue Service, we recently presented oral arguments before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. […] We had oral arguments at the end of June, and the timing of a decision from the appellate court is unknown at this stage. We have talked in the past about that being 6 to 12 months out, and that's about the best I can offer at the moment.

Based on our year-to-date results and expectations for the balance of the year, including six fewer days in the fourth quarter, we expect to deliver at the high end of our prior revenue guidance, with organic revenue growth of approximately 5%. […] All in, we now expect comparable earnings per share growth of 9% to 10% versus $3 in 2025.

We actually had the highest incidence of beverages in a World Cup ever. We got around 80%, which represents roughly close to one drink per attendee at the venues. […] So it's difficult to quantify what is the actual impact overall. But the most important thing, it's how we engage with the consumers and we can bring them along to other campaigns moving forward.

Look, we're very happy to have Marriott back. As I said in one of the interactions before, I think in the past, we lost that right to be with them for not being consumer and customer centric. And we earned it back because we are consumer and customer centric like never before.

The structural changes in our overall model becoming more asset light has, as you know, been one of the primary drivers.

We've had a headwind, as you know, on the foreign exchange front for a number of years. And thankfully, this year, it has turned into a tailwind.

On the consumer front what we're seeing is while they remain participating on the industry, the lower income continues to be pressured. And we're seeing that it's really about value, not only pricing.

So the point that we're making about the volume, you shouldn't look at one quarter only. It's always better to step out and to look at the whole year. And we said that this would be a year that if we did everything right, we would see volume and price/mix more in tandem. And that's exactly what we're seeing.

Just keep in mind the long-term algorithm is a long-term algorithm, and it's rooted in, first of all, what the industry typically grows by. And if you go back 30 years, there's been a handful of anomalous years, but it typically is in the 3% to 4% range. […] And so, that lands you in a range, which is what our long-term algo says, 4% to 6%. And the ambition clearly is to be at the higher end of that on a sustained basis.

there's no significant change in strategy with regard to investing to support our brand portfolio and to stay close to the consumer. As we've seen many times, what happens during a quarter is not necessarily reflective of the investments that take place in the quarter. But over the long haul, we're committed to continuing to invest ahead of the curve. […] one of the areas that we are very focused on is the quality of the investments and leveraging an increasing set of new capabilities supported by AI and digital to be able to do so.

This execution delivered commercial impact, driving average incidence of over 80% at venues across 16 host cities, which is a record for us for a FIFA World Cup. Throughout the tournament, we've collected more than 25 million first-party data points and generated more than 9 billion views through digital and social media activations.