Those who gave up on the consumer staples sector already may now be worrying they did so too soon. This is because of Coca-Cola’s Q2 2026 earnings report, which was posted on Tuesday and soundly defied analyst expectations.

Key Takeaways:

  • Coca-Cola reported its earnings on Tuesday, easily outperforming analyst expectations in terms of both revenue and earnings per share.
  • Part of Coca-Cola’s success came from the FIFA World Cup, in which the company reports it engaged with over 80 million consumers through its marketing campaign.
  • This report shows that the consumer staples sector still has room to grow, especially through short-term momentum from events like the World Cup.

Coca-Cola’s latest earnings outpaced expectations on multiple fronts. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 97 cents, which is 4 cents higher than experts anticipated. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola reported revenue of $13.38 billion, which was far higher than the $13.16 that analysts had priced in.

For the second quarter, Coca-Cola reported net income of $4.43 billion. This marks a stark jump from last year’s report of $3.81 billion in net income.

Coca-Cola attributes part of its success this quarter to how well the company engaged with the FIFA World Cup. Coca-Cola says its World Cup campaign allowed it to engage with over 80 million consumers, and helped drive 5% volume growth for Trademark Coca-Cola and 8% volume growth for Powerade for this quarter.

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The Ongoing Consumer Staples Opportunity Set

“We delivered another strong quarter by staying close to the changing needs of our consumers and customers,” added Henrique Braun, CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. “While we continue to see a dynamic consumer landscape, we leveraged our powerful brands and system to gain value share, delivering revenue, profit and earnings growth while also investing for the long term.”

Coca-Cola’s earnings are even more fascinating, considering how its competition is doing. Earlier this month, Coca-Cola’s top competitor, PepsiCo, reported its Q2 2026 earnings, which were much more mixed. PepsiCo saw its revenue jump, but earnings per share came in below expectations.

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All in all, these reports show that the consumer staples market is not as black and white as it may seem. Coca-Cola is proving that the consumer staples sector still has plenty of gas left in the tank, especially considering how the World Cup could fuel momentum for other companies, including PepsiCo.

This could bode well for the State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP). XLP provides broad exposure to the companies within the S&P 500 that occupy the consumer staples sector. This includes Coca-Cola, which is a top holding for the fund, as of July 27, 2026.

Even though some may have trepidation about the trajectory of the consumer staples sector, XLP’s performance shows that the sector deserves a closer look. Year to date, the fund’s NAV has risen 8.32%, as of June 30, 2026.

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