Their branding might be amongst the most recognisable in the world, and the word ‘Coke’ transfers across almost any language, but that doesn’t mean it’s all rosy for Coca-Cola’s share prices going forward in 2016.

Things started off pretty well, their first-quarter sales and profits exceeded analysts’ expectations, but it is their predictions of a 4% to 5% increase in organic revenue for the rest of the year that has seen things go south.

We’ll leave it to Fortune to outline why:

Wall Street analysts don’t believe Coke’s bullish targets. And that explains why shares are trading nearly 5% lower on Wednesday…

Because organic revenue only grew 2% in the first quarter, it implies that growth will accelerate throughout the rest of the year to make up for the difference. And the analysts that closely cover Coke aren’t fully convinced management can hit their numbers…

Ultimately, what Coke is facing is a big challenge to the company’s core soda business. In markets like the U.S., volume for the industry has slipped drastically as consumers move toward drinks they deem healthier than soda. Coke has tried to pivot but perhaps not fast enough. Packaged water has been a bright spot for the industry and Coke has made investments in startup brands and even recently made a big splashy launch in the milk category, but ultimately, soda is still a big business for the beverage giant.

Sure that sounds like bad news, but cigarette companies are still coining it and we’ve known how dangerous those are to our health for a pretty decent stretch.

Don’t feel too sorry for Coca-Cola just yet, their first-quarter earnings still came in at $10.28 billion.

[source:fortune]

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