Coca-Cola has today trounced estimates for quarterly profit and revenue, boosted by strong demand for its fizzy drinks as vaccine rollouts and relaxed restrictions in Asia encouraged consumers to return to their pre-pandemic routines.
The beverage maker said volumes, a key demand indicator, returned to 2019 levels in March.
"We are encouraged by improvements in our business, especially in markets where vaccine availability is increasing and economies are opening up," chief executive James Quincey said in a statement.
Consumers bought more drinks in China and India offseting weakness in the US and Western Europe, where restrictions were more stringent and consumers preferred to snack or cook more at home.
Coca-Cola heavily depends on away-from-home channels such as sporting events, restaurants and cinemas to generate its sales, while rival PepsiCo emerged a pandemic winner since it sells its snacks and beverages largely in supermarkets and grocery stores.
Coca-Cola's unit case volume was flat in the first quarter, after declining for all of last year, while organic sales grew 6%.
Net revenue rose about 5% to $9.02 billion - the first increase after four quarters of declines - above the average analyst estimate of $8.63 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Excluding one-time items, the company earned 55 cents per share, compared with estimates of 50 cents.
