On Thursday, the Coca-Cola Company ( NYSE: KO) published its fiscal third-quarter financial results that were stronger than analysts had anticipated. Coca-Cola had registered a 33 percent drop in earnings in the previous quarter (Q2).

On Thursday, the company's shares jumped 2.5 percent in premarket trading but lost over 1 percent on the open market. Coca-Cola is now swapping hands at £38.61 per share, including the price action. In comparison, at the beginning of 2020, the per-share price was higher than £42.

Financial results of Coca-Cola Q3 versus the estimates of analysts

In the third quarter, Coca-Cola said its net income was £1.33 billion, which translates into 30.56 pence per share. Its net income was higher at £1.98 billion, or 45.84 pence per share, in the same quarter last year.

The beverage company earned 42.02 pence per share on an adjusted basis versus a lower 35.14 pence expected, as per FactSet.

In terms of revenue in Q3, in the comparable quarter of last year, the US company posted £6.61 billion compared to £7.27 billion. But its revenue was better than the £6.39 billion FactSet Consensus.

Coca-Cola said that due to the Coronavirus pandemic that has significantly decreased sales at sports events, movie theatres, and other away-from-home avenues, its revenue was still taking a hit. In the United States, the COVID-19 crisis has so far infected more than 8.5 million people and caused more than 225,000 deaths.

The American multinational acknowledged the uncertainty of COVID-19 as it refrained from giving detailed future guidance.

The Atlanta-based company is currently in the process of a revamp that will remove from its portfolio half of the current brands. Coca-Cola had already expressed plans to discontinue the Tab diet Soda and Odwalla juices in an earlier announcement.

Remarks from CEO James Quincey on Thursday

Our system has remained focused on its Drinks for Life strategy throughout this year's crisis. We are accelerating our already ongoing transformation, shaping our business to recover quickly compared to the broader economic recovery. Although many challenges still lie ahead, our quarterly progress gives me confidence that we are on the right path.

Last year, with an annual gain of a little under 20 percent, Coca-Cola performed fairly upbeat on the stock market. The American multinational beverage corporation is valued at £166 billion at the time of writing and has a 23.78 price to earnings ratio.