Keurig Dr Pepper sales and earnings in its fourth quarter beat a Wall Street estimate, and although the company’s U.S. coffee segment sales slipped during the period, the company sold more brewers for the full year than it did during the previous year.
Net loss was $144 million, or 11 cents per diluted share, versus net income of $693 million, or 49 cents per diluted share, in the year-prior quarter, the company reported. Adjusted for one-time events, net income increased to $790 million, or 58 cents per diluted share, versus $770 million, or 55 cents per diluted share, in the year-earlier period.
An analyst consensus estimate posted by Zacks Investment Research called for adjusted diluted earnings per share of 57 cents and revenue of $4.03 billion.
Net sales were $4.07 billion versus $3.87 billion in the year-before quarter. Income from operations was $63 million versus $943 million in the year-previous period while adjusted income from operations was $1.13 billion versus $1.1 billion.
In the company’s U.S. Coffee segment, fourth-quarter net sales slipped 2.4% to $1.1 billion. Volume/mix grew 0.7%, including a 1.1% advance in K-Cup pod shipments, which was more than offset by unfavorable net price realization of 3.1%, the company noted. Operating income decreased 8.9% to $349 million year over year, while adjusted operating income decreased 5.7% to $399 million.
For the full year, net income in the U.S. Coffee segment was $1.44 billion, or $1.05 per diluted share, versus $2.18 billion, or $1.55 per diluted share, in the year prior, the company maintained. Adjusted net income was $2.63 billion, or $1.92 per diluted share, versus $2.52 billion, or $1.79 per diluted share, in the year earlier
Net sales were $15.35 billion versus $14.81 billion in the year before. Income from operations was $2.59 billion versus $3.19 billion in the year previous while adjusted income from operations was $3.97 billion versus $3.66 billion.
For the full year, Keurig coffee brewer unit sales increased 7.3% year over year to 10.4 million.
Keurig Dr Pepper CEO Tim Cofer said, “In 2024, we delivered strong financial performance consistent with our long-term algorithm and advanced our strategy to lay the groundwork for KDP’s next phase of growth. We gained market share through exciting innovation, marketing, and activation across our CSD and coffee brands, drove win-win outcomes with partner brands such as Electrolit and C4, and took bold action to extend our portfolio and route to market with the acquisition of GHOST and select territory expansions. We achieved these results while delivering record productivity to support reinvestment and bottom-line growth, with accelerated free cash flow generation enabling both value-enhancing investments and direct shareholder returns. Though the operating backdrop is demanding, we are confident that our strategic progress and business momentum will translate into yet another set of compelling, on-algorithm results in 2025.”
