Did Ronaldos Coca-Cola Snub Cost the Company Billions?
Coca-Cola's stock dropped more than $4 billion after soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo moved two Coke bottles out of view of the camera during a news conference, opting for a bottle of water instead. There's no real indication that Ronaldo's drinking habits impacted these stock changes, given that the company's stock started falling before this news conference. Coca-Cola's stock fell in the days following a news conference in which Ronaldo replaced the company's products with a bottle of water. However ...  On June 14, 2021, Portugal soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo sat down for a news conference to discuss his teams upcoming match against Hungary in the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship. Before Ronaldo took questions, he took the two Coca-Cola bottles that were left out for him, moved them out of frame to the side of the table, then held up a bottle of water and said, Agua.  As this video went viral, a number of outlets reported that Ronaldos Coca-Cola snub had cost the company billions of dollars. The exact cost of the snub varied from outlet to outlet, but the general claim was that it cost Coca-Cola between $4 and $5 billion. Heres an excerpt from The Guardians report:  Cristiano Ronaldo snub wipes billions off Coca-Colas market value Cristiano Ronaldos removal of two Coca-Cola bottles during a press conference at the European Championship has coincided with a $4bn fall in the share price of the drinks company. The Portugal captain is a renowned health fanatic and made it clear what he thinks of the carbonated soft drink. The 36-year-old shifted the bottles of Coca-Cola away from him during a press conference in Budapest on Monday in the prelude to his countrys Group F game against Hungary. [] Coca-Cola is one of the official sponsors of Euro 2020. The companys share price dropped from $56.10 to $55.22 almost immediately after Ronaldos gesture, a 1.6% dip. The market value of Coca-Cola went from $242bn to $238bn  a drop of $4bn. While Coca-Colas stock truly fell after this news conference, there was no indication that this drop was entirely (or even in part) caused by Ronaldos preference for water. In fact, Coca-Colas stock was already falling by the time that Ronaldo snubbed Coke products in favor of water. Coca-Colas stock price closed on Friday, June 11, at $56.16. At 9:30 a.m. shortly after the market opened again on Monday, the companys stock had fallen to $55.35. Ronaldos news conference hadnt even started by this time. After Ronaldos news conference (held at 3:45 p.m. Central European Time (or 9:45 am CST according to Sportico), Coca-Colas stock briefly rose and then dropped again. Its certainly possible that Ronaldos endorsements (or disapproval) of Coke products could temporarily influence the stock market, but a few other facts should be noted. For one, while a $4 billion stock drop may sound like an absolutely devastating turn of events, this really isnt a major story for Coca-Cola. The company has seen a number of similar drops and rises over the last year, and those changes had nothing to do with Ronaldo. As of this writing, Coca-Colas stock is up about 15% from where it was at this time last year:  Furthermore, Coca-Colas stock is not based purely on sales of their most well-known product, Coke. While Ronaldo may prefer water to soda, Coca-Cola has a large portfolio that includes a variety of products, including the water brand Dasani.