Coca-Cola CEO: We are holding prices for now despite the trade war

Tue, Apr 29, 2025, 9:03 AM 2 min read

Coca-Cola (KO) CEO James Quincey is holding firm on prices even as Trump administration's trade war drives up costs like aluminum cans and orange juice.

"We're not doing it [raising prices] out of cycle. Obviously prices went up because of a whole set of normal things — last year's inflation — that's already happened. But we're sticking to our current pricing plan because, you know, some things are more expensive and some things are less expensive. And it all goes into the bundle," Quincey told Yahoo Finance (video above).

Shares of the beverage giant rose nearly 1% in trading on Tuesday as it beat on first quarter earnings and didn't issue a warning with its full-year guidance. The company said in a statement it expects the impact of the trade war to be "manageable" this year.

That isn't to say consumers aren't showing signs of being under pressure, as large companies begin to raise prices to compensate for their higher costs of doing business.

In Coke's North America business, for example, unit case volumes fell 3% as it raised prices by 8%. It was the second-largest price increase amongst Coke's divisions, behind a 16% hike in Latin America.

Explained Quincey to Yahoo Finance, "If you look at the US business, the weakness in volume in Q1 was concentrated in what we call future consumption packaging, which is much more predominant in supermarkets or in kind of independent trade outlets, rather than either convenience or the kind of away from home quick-serve restaurants and all the away from home channels. So that's where the weakness was focused, which I think is partly an indication of some of the affordability pressure for the lower income consumer and some of the geopolitical reaction."

• Net sales: -2% year over year to $11.2 billion vs. estimates for $11.14 billion

• Organic sales growth: +6% year over year vs. estimates for +5.2%

• Core EPS: +1% year over year to $0.73 vs. estimates for $0.72

• Key comment: Said tariff impact is "manageable"

• Organic sales growth: +5 to +6% vs. estimates for +5.63% (previous guidance: +5% to +6%)

• Core EPS: +2% to +3% to $2.96 vs. estimates for $2.96 (previous guidance: +2% to +3%/$2.94 to $2.97)

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.

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