Why Coca-Cola Isn't Worried About the Coronavirus Impact

Beverage giant Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) expects the coronavirus outbreak to take a small toll on first quarter earnings. But, the company believes it will be able to offset that profit hit over the course of the remainder of 2020. Coca-Cola announced on Friday it anticipates the fallout from the epidemic to reduce unit case volume by two to three points for the quarter ending in March, reducing earnings by one to two cents per share.

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While the spread of the coronavirus has largely been limited to China, the impact on U.S. companies is still significant. Not only do many U.S.-based organizations rely on the country for supplies and labor, the country itself is an important consumer market. Consumer staples name Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) warned this week that current quarter would be "materially impacted on both the top and bottom line" due to the outbreak," noting the company uses 387 different Chinese suppliers that play a role in the production of more than 17,000 products.

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Source Fool.com