Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. (COKE)

Item 2.    Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of Coca‑Cola Consolidated, Inc., a Delaware corporation (together with its majority-owned subsidiaries, the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”), is intended to help the reader understand our financial condition and results of operations and is provided as an addition to, and should be read in conjunction with, our condensed consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements. The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts and the consolidated operations of the Company and its majority-owned subsidiaries. All comparisons are to the corresponding period in the prior year unless specified otherwise.

Each of the Company’s quarters, other than the fourth quarter, ends on the Friday closest to the last day of the corresponding quarterly calendar period. The Company’s fourth quarter and fiscal year end on December 31 regardless of the day of the week on which December 31 falls. The condensed consolidated financial statements presented are:

•The financial position as of July 3, 2026 and December 31, 2025.

•The results of operations, comprehensive income and changes in stockholders’ (deficit) equity for the three-month periods ended July 3, 2026 (the “second quarter” of fiscal 2026 (“2026”)) and June 27, 2025 (the “second quarter” of fiscal 2025 (“2025”)) and the six-month periods ended July 3, 2026 (the “first half” of 2026) and June 27, 2025 (the “first half” of 2025).

•The changes in cash flows for the first half of 2026 and the first half of 2025.

Our Business and the Nonalcoholic Beverage Industry

We distribute, market and manufacture nonalcoholic beverages in territories spanning 14 states and the District of Columbia. The Company was incorporated in 1980 and, together with its predecessors, has been in the nonalcoholic beverage manufacturing and distribution business since 1902. We are the largest Coca‑Cola bottler in the United States. Approximately 85% of our total bottle/can sales volume to retail customers consists of products of The Coca‑Cola Company, which include some of the most recognized and popular beverage brands in the world. We also distribute products for several other beverage companies, including Monster Energy Company and Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (“Dr Pepper”). Our Purpose is to honor God in all we do, to serve others, to pursue excellence and to grow profitably. Our Common Stock, par value $1.00 per share (“Common Stock”), is traded on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “COKE.”

We offer a range of nonalcoholic beverage products and flavors, including both sparkling and still beverages, designed to meet the demands of our consumers. Sparkling beverages are carbonated beverages and the Company’s principal sparkling beverage is Coca‑Cola. Still beverages include energy products and noncarbonated beverages such as bottled water, ready-to-drink tea, ready-to-drink coffee, enhanced water, juices and sports drinks.

Our sales are divided into two main categories: (i) bottle/can sales and (ii) other sales. Bottle/can sales include products packaged primarily in plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Bottle/can net pricing is based on the invoice price charged to customers reduced by any promotional allowances. Bottle/can net pricing per unit is impacted by the price charged per package, the sales volume generated for each package and the channels in which those packages are sold. Other sales include sales to other Coca‑Cola bottlers, post-mix sales, transportation revenue and equipment maintenance revenue. Post-mix products are dispensed through equipment that mixes fountain syrups with carbonated or still water, enabling fountain retailers to sell finished products to consumers in cups or glasses.

The Company’s products are sold and distributed in the United States through various channels, which include selling directly to customers, including grocery stores, mass merchandise stores, club stores, convenience stores and drug stores, selling to on-premise locations, where products are typically consumed immediately, such as restaurants, schools, amusement parks and recreational facilities, and selling through other channels such as vending machine outlets. The Company also distributes its products using alternative routes to market (“ARTM”), which include distribution by third-party distributors, the manufacturer of the product or the customer’s supply chain infrastructure.

The nonalcoholic beverage industry is highly competitive for both sparkling and still beverages. Our competitors include bottlers and distributors of nationally and regionally advertised and marketed products, as well as bottlers and distributors of private label beverages. Our principal competitors include local bottlers of PepsiCo, Inc. products and, in some regions, local bottlers of Dr Pepper products.

The principal methods of competition in the nonalcoholic beverage industry are new brand and product introductions, point-of-sale merchandising, new vending and dispensing equipment, packaging changes, pricing, sales promotions, product quality, retail

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space management, customer service, frequency of distribution and advertising. We believe we are competitive in our territories with respect to these methods of competition.

Business seasonality results primarily from higher unit sales of the Company’s products in the second and third quarters of the fiscal year, as sales of our products are typically correlated with warmer weather. We believe that we and other manufacturers from whom we purchase finished products have adequate production capacity to meet sales demand for sparkling and still beverages during these peak periods. Sales volume can also be impacted by weather conditions. Fixed costs, such as depreciation expense, are not significantly impacted by business seasonality.

Executive Summary

Volume was up 7.6% in the second quarter of 2026 and up 10.3% in the first half of the year, or 7.1% on an adjusted basis, as presented in the “Adjusted Results (Non-GAAP)” section, for the first half of 2026. Our Sparkling category volume increased 7.0% in the second quarter of 2026 and 9.4% in the first half of 2026, or 6.2% on an adjusted basis, as presented in the “Adjusted Results (Non-GAAP)” section. Sparkling volume growth reflected broad-based gains across the portfolio, led by our zero-sugar and flavor offerings. Still category volume increased 9.4% in the second quarter of 2026 and 12.9% in the first half of 2026, or 9.8% on an adjusted basis, as presented in the “Adjusted Results (Non-GAAP)” section. The Still category volume growth was driven by strong performance across many brands, including Core Power, Powerade, smartwater and Monster. Dasani casepack water, which carries a lower net selling price as compared to other Still products, also contributed to a portion of the growth within our Still category. In addition, total volume in the second quarter of 2026 was also higher as compared to the second quarter of 2025 due to the timing of the Fourth of July holiday, which we estimate impacted total volume by approximately 1.0%.

Net sales increased 10.6% to $2.1 billion in the second quarter of 2026. The growth in net sales was primarily the result of our volume growth and annual pricing actions, as well as a shift in the timing of the Fourth of July holiday. Sparkling and Still net sales increased 9.7% and 11.5%, respectively, in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the second quarter of 2025. The increase in Sparkling category net sales was driven primarily by sales of multi-pack, take-home aluminum can packages sold within our large store, club and value channels. Net sales of our Still products were especially strong in our convenience and value store channels.

Gross profit in the second quarter of 2026 was $778.4 million, an increase of $35.9 million, or 4.8%. On an adjusted basis, as defined in the “Adjusted Results (Non-GAAP)” section, gross profit increased $47.3 million, or 6.4%. Gross margin in the second quarter of 2026 decreased 210 basis points to 37.9%. Adjusted gross margin in the second quarter of 2026, as presented in the “Adjusted Results (Non-GAAP)” section, decreased 150 basis points to 38.4%. The reduction in gross margin resulted primarily from an increase in aluminum costs, which was caused by geopolitical conflicts, supply constraints and the impact of elevated tariffs. These elevated aluminum costs resulted in approximately $45 million in additional input costs compared to the second quarter of 2025, which outpaced our annual pricing actions.

Selling, delivery and administrative (“SD&A”) expenses in the second quarter of 2026 increased $36.7 million, or 7.8%. SD&A expenses as a percentage of net sales decreased to 24.7% in the second quarter of 2026 from 25.4% in the second quarter of 2025. The increase in SD&A expenses was primarily driven by an additional investment in the base wages of our front-line teammates, which became effective at the beginning of the third quarter of 2025. The growth in SD&A expenses was also driven by an increase in labor costs related to annual wage adjustments, higher employee benefit costs and elevated fuel costs. In addition, increased volume in the second quarter was also a driver of variable expenses during the quarter. SD&A expenses in the first half of 2026 increased $88.9 million or 9.8%. Approximately $25.0 million of the increase was related to the six additional days in the first half of 2026.

Income from operations in the second quarter of 2026 was $271.3 million, compared to $272.1 million in the second quarter of 2025, a decrease of $0.7 million, or 0.3%. On an adjusted basis, as defined in the “Adjusted Results (Non-GAAP)” section, income from operations in the second quarter of 2026 was $284.9 million, an increase of $14.9 million. Operating margin for the second quarter of 2026 was 13.2% as compared to 14.7% for the second quarter of 2025, a decrease of 150 basis points. Adjusted operating margin for the second quarter of 2026, as presented in the “Adjusted Results (Non-GAAP)” section, was 13.9% as compared to 14.6% for the second quarter of 2025, a decrease of 70 basis points. For the first half of 2026, income from operations increased $47.0 million, or 10.2%. The six additional selling days in the first half of 2026 accounted for approximately $30.0 million of the increase in income from operations.

Net income in the second quarter of 2026 was $158.8 million, compared to $187.4 million in the second quarter of 2025, a decline of $28.6 million, or 15.2%. On an adjusted basis, as defined in the “Adjusted Results (Non-GAAP)” section, net income in the second quarter of 2026 was $187.7 million, compared to $195.2 million in the second quarter of 2025, a decrease of $7.5 million,

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or 3.8%. Net income in the second quarter of 2026 was adversely impacted by non-cash, fair value adjustments to both our acquisition related contingent consideration and commodity hedging instruments, as well as an increase in net interest expense.

Net income for the first half of 2026 was $270.4 million, compared to $291.0 million in the first half of 2025, a decline of $20.6 million, or 7.1%. Net income for the first half of 2026 was adversely impacted by an increase in net interest expense and non-cash, fair value adjustments to our acquisition related contingent consideration. These decreases in net income were offset by the six additional days in the first half of 2026, which increased net income by approximately $22.6 million during the period. Income tax expense in the first half of 2026 was $96.0 million, compared to $101.5 million in the first half of 2025, resulting in an effective income tax rate of approximately 26% for bo

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Item 7.Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Company is intended to help the reader understand our financial condition and results of operations and is provided as an addition to, and should be read in conjunction with, our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements. The consolidated financial statements include the accounts and the consolidated operations of the Company and its majority-owned subsidiaries. All comparisons are to the prior year unless specified otherwise.

The periods presented are the fiscal years ended December 31, 2025 (“2025”) and December 31, 2024 (“2024”). Information concerning the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 (“2023”) and a comparison of 2024 and 2023 may be found under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10‑K for 2024, filed with the SEC on February 20, 2025.

The Company manages its business on the basis of two operating segments. Nonalcoholic Beverages represents the vast majority of the Company’s consolidated net sales and income from operations. The additional operating segment, which includes the Red Classic subsidiaries, does not meet the quantitative threshold for separate reporting and, therefore, has been reported as “All Other.”

Executive Summary

Net sales increased 4.8% to $7.23 billion in 2025, with standard physical case volume up 0.3% when compared to the prior year. The growth in net sales was primarily the result of annual pricing actions executed during the first quarter of 2025. For 2025, Sparkling and Still net sales increased 3.5% and 6.1%, respectively. The increase in Sparkling category net sales was driven primarily by sales of multi-pack, take-home packages sold within our large store, club and value channels. The increase in Still category net sales was driven primarily by the solid performance across our Still portfolio sold within large retail and convenience stores.

Fiscal year 2025 had one fewer selling day compared to fiscal year 2024, which negatively impacted the annual volume comparison by approximately 0.3%, as further discussed in the “Comparable and Adjusted Results (Non-GAAP)” section. For fiscal year 2025, Sparkling volume was flat while Still volume increased 1.0%. The steady Sparkling volume performance was driven by growth within zero-sugar and flavor offerings, offset by slower sales of Coca-Cola Original Taste during 2025. Within the Still portfolio, Monster, Powerade, BODYARMOR, Topo Chico and Core Power all achieved volume growth during the year, reflecting strength across our entire portfolio of brands and driving growth in net sales in 2025.

Gross profit in 2025 increased $119.2 million, or 4.3%, while gross margin decreased 20 basis points to 39.7%. Aluminum costs, including the impact of elevated import tariffs, adversely affected our gross margin in 2025, particularly in the back half of the year. The reduction in gross margin also resulted from a shift in sales toward our Still portfolio, which generally have lower gross margins compared to Sparkling beverages.

Selling, delivery and administrative (“SD&A”) expenses in 2025 increased $88.9 million, or 4.8%. SD&A expenses as a percentage of net sales in 2025 remained stable as compared to 2024. The increase in SD&A expenses was primarily driven by the cost of labor, which includes annual wage adjustments made earlier this year and an additional investment in the base wages of our front-line teammates, which became effective at the beginning of the third quarter of 2025.

Income from operations in 2025 increased $30.3 million to $950.7 million and net income in 2025 declined $62.5 million to $570.6 million, as compared to 2024. On an adjusted basis, as defined in the “Comparable and Adjusted Results (Non-GAAP)” section, net income in 2025 was $668.5 million, compared to $678.6 million in 2024, a decrease of $10.1 million, or 1.5%. As compared to 2024, net income for 2025 was more adversely impacted by routine, non-cash fair value adjustments to our acquisition related contingent consideration liability, primarily driven by changes in the discount rate and future cash flow projections used to compute the fair value of the liability, and by increased interest expense. Income tax expense for 2025 was $202.3 million, compared to $223.5 million for 2024, resulting in an effective income tax rate of approximately 26% for both periods.

Cash flows from operations for 2025 were $931.9 million, compared to $876.4 million for 2024. Cash flows from operations reflected our strong operating performance during 2025. In 2025, we invested $312.3 million in capital expenditures as we continue to optimize our supply chain and invest for future growth. In fiscal year 2026, we expect capital expenditures to be approximately $300 million. In the fourth quarter of 2025, we repurchased all of the remaining shares of our Common Stock previously owned by The Coca-Cola Company for approximately $2.4 billion. Throughout 2025, we have returned approximately $2.7 billion to stockholders through share repurchases and dividends.

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Areas of Emphasis

Key priorities for the Company include executing our commercial strategy, executing our revenue management strategy, optimizing our supply chain, generating cash flow, determining the optimal route to market and creating and maintaining a digitally enabled selling platform.

Commercial Execution: Our success is dependent on our ability to execute our commercial strategy within our customers’ stores. Our ability to obtain shelf space within stores and remain in-stock across our portfolio of brands and packages in a profitable manner will have a significant impact on our results. We are focused on execution at every step in our supply chain, including raw material and finished product procurement, manufacturing conversion, transportation, warehousing and distribution, to ensure in-store execution can occur. We continue to invest in tools and technology to enable our teammates to operate more effectively and efficiently with our customers and to drive long-term value in our business. We also continue to focus on opportunities to enhance the customer experience by adapting to changes in our customer landscape, enabling operational flexibility and focusing on customer service.

Revenue Management: Our revenue management strategy focuses on pricing our brands and packages optimally within product categories and channels, creating effective working relationships with our customers and making disciplined, fact-based decisions. Pricing decisions are made considering a variety of factors, including brand strength, competitive environment, input costs, the roles certain brands play in our product portfolio and other market conditions.

Supply Chain Optimization: We are continually focused on optimizing our supply chain, which includes identifying nearby warehousing and distribution operations that can be consolidated into new facilities to increase capacity, expand production capabilities, reduce overall production costs and add automation to allow the Company to better serve its customers and consumers. The Company undertook significant capital expenditures to optimize our supply chain and to invest for future growth during 2025, and expects to continue to make significant investments during fiscal year 2026. During the first quarter of 2025, the Company began operations in a new 430,000-square foot automated distribution center in Columbus, Ohio.

Cash Flow Generation: We have several initiatives in place to optimize cash flow, improve profitability, prudently manage capital expenditures and enhance capital returns to our stockholders. We believe strengthening our balance sheet gives us the flexibility to make optimal capital allocation decisions for long-term value creation. We have and expect to continue to return value to our stockholders.

Optimal Route to Market: We are focused on implementing optimal methods of distribution of our products within our territories. DSD is our preferred and primary route to market. Our typical DSD method uses Company-owned vehicles and warehouses, but we increasingly shifted to alternative methods of distribution, or ARTM, during 2024 and continued to use ARTM during 2025. For example, in instances of post-mix delivery for use in fountain machines, we have shifted and continue to shift our delivery method towards alternative distributors in order to enhance profitability and customer service. We receive a fee from our brand partners on these post-mix gallons delivered to locally managed customers in our territories, which is recorded as a reduction to cost of sales.

In instances of bottle/can delivery, we have shifted certain products for certain customers and channels of business to ARTM. These ARTM include third-party distributors, the manufacturer of the product or the customer’s supply chain infrastructure. These bottle/can arrangements generally come with favorable commercial terms for the Company, and, because we have the exclusive distribution rights for nonalcoholic beverages within our franchise territories, we receive fees from our brand partners for the delivery of qualified product in our territories. These fees are reported in net sales but not our reported volume metrics.

During 2025, approximately two-thirds of our post-mix gallons and less than 10% of our bottle/can volume were delivered through ARTM.

Digitally Enabled Selling Platform: Through our investment in CONA Services LLC, we, along with other Coca-Cola bottlers, have built a digitally enabled selling platform called MyCoke that we believe has enabled, and will continue to enable, us to better serve our customers. This platform creates a more seamless order and payment platform for certain customers and we expect this platform will continue to enable us to enhance customer service and create more selling opportunities for our teammates. This platform is currently targeted to certain on-premise and small store customers.

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Results of Operations

The Company’s results of operations for 2025 and 2024 are highlighted in the table below and discussed in the following paragraphs.

Net Sales

Net sales increased $328.3 million, or 4.8%, to $7.23 billion in 2025, as compared to $6.90 billion in 2024. The largest driver of the increase in net sales was higher average bottle/can sales price per unit charged to retail customers, which increased net sales by approximately $215 million. Net sales was also positively impacted by shifts in product mix in 2025, as certain of the Company’s higher-priced brands, including energy, enha

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