Coca Cola Earnings Preview

Coca Cola is in the unusual position of underperforming their competitors this year.

Coca Cola (KO: 68.08 +0.37%) is scheduled to report their second quarter 2010 results before the market opens on Wednesday, July 21.

Last quarter, the soft drink giant reported earnings results that were $.05 above Wall Street’s consensus estimates after reporting lower-than-expected results in the previous quarter. However, KO shares fell 1.5% following the earnings report.

The current Wall Street consensus estimates are for revenues of $8.70 billion and EPS of $1.03. This would imply a 5% increase in revenues from last year’s $8.27 billion. However, analysts expect earnings to grow by 12%. 

Coca Cola shares have fallen 7% this year and underperformed the 2% decline in the S&P 500 index. Last year, KO shares gained 26% as the stock outpaced the 23% gain in the S&P 500.

Coca Cola stock is currently trading at 14x consensus 2011 EPS estimates. We expect Coca Cola to report a slight earnings beat, but probably not enough to significantly lift the stock price.