Coca-Cola Moves To Cane Sugar For Coke Brand In The US, Retail Sentiment Hits 9-Month High

Coca-Cola beat quarterly expectations for profit and revenue, benefiting from strong demand for its sodas and juices in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, even as demand for traditional sodas slowed in the United States.

Coca-Cola (KO) said on Tuesday that as part of its product innovation, the company plans to launch an offering of its namesake brand with U.S. cane sugar, aiming to provide more choices for customers at a time when most people in the United States are prioritizing healthy drinks and foods.

Retail sentiment on the stock turned to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ a day ago, hitting a nine-month high, with chatter levels at ‘extremely high’ volumes, according to Stocktwits data. The retail user message count on Coca-Cola on Stocktwits saw a 222% increase in the last 24 hours.

The soda giant’s shares were down nearly 1% in early trading after global unit case volume declined 1%.

The move by Coca-Cola follows U.S. President Donald Trump's statement last week, in which the soda company reportedly agreed to use cane sugar in Coke beverages sold in the U.S.

“This addition is designed to complement the company’s strong core portfolio and offer more choices across occasions and preferences,” Coca-Cola said.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been attempting to expand their healthy drink offerings as younger consumers in the U.S. shift away from traditional beverages and snacks toward healthier alternatives, such as prebiotic sodas and energy drinks.

PepsiCo announced on Monday that it is introducing Pepsi Prebiotic Cola, which contains five grams of cane sugar, 30 calories, and no artificial sweeteners. It said the product has a similar taste to Pepsi, with the added functional ingredient of three grams of prebiotic fiber.

Coca-Cola’s second-quarter revenue came in at $12.62 billion, compared with Wall Street expectations of $12.56 billion, according to data compiled by Fiscal AI.

The company’s adjusted profit of $0.87 beat analysts’ estimates of $0.84.

Coca-Cola also said that it expects annual comparable earnings per share growth to be approximately 3%, compared with its prior forecast of a 2% to 3% increase.

The stock has gained 11% so far this year and has risen 6.5% in the last 12 months.

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