Coca-Cola Beats Earnings Estimates but Revenues Fall Short

What hurting the stock following the report was weaker-than-expected revenues, which came in at $7.53 billion, shy of the $7.72 billion that analysts had forecast for the quarter.

Volume sales in North America were a bit weak for the company during the quarter. Sales volume dropped by 2% in North America, a result of the weak economy and a colder-than-usual January and February.

However, worldwide, case volume rose by 3%, boosted by strong international growth. Eurasia and Africa had an 11% jump in volume sales, India had a 29% jump in volume, and volume rose by 18% in Turkey.

In an attempt to revive its North American business, Coca-Cola is in the process of acquiring its largest bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (CCE) and stated that the deal is on track to close in the fourth quarter. The deal is worth roughly $12 billion, and is expected to revitalize the company's North American business by streamlining distribution, boosting the company's flexibility and reducing overall costs.

The company's main rival, Pepsico Inc. (PEP), made a similar move in February when it acquired its two largest distributors for $7.8 billion.

All in all, it was not too bad of a quarter for the company, which just really needs to iron out its North American business, and the acquisition of Coca-Cola Enterprises should be a big step in the right direction.

Long term, the stock is still a good buy candidate and as the American economy continues to rebound this is one stock that could really start to trade higher.

The stock is trading down 0.6% in early morning trading to $54.99, down $0.33.