CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Coca-Cola Co.'s profit rose 8% in the third quarter, helped by volume growth that outpaced its long-term target, the beverage giant reported on Tuesday.

The company also said it expects to repurchase about $2 billion worth of its shares by the end of this year.

Shares of Coke, which were up about 1% in afternoon trading, have been trading around $60 lately. The Dow Jones Industrial Average component stock is up from a 52-week low of just below $50 in early summer.

Coca-Cola KO, +0.92% said its third-quarter profit increased to $2.06 billion, or 88 cents a share, from $1.9 billion, or 81 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales rose 5% to $8.43 billion.

Analysts expected the Atlanta-based beverage giant to earn 89 cents a share on sales of $8.39 billion, according to an average tallied by FactSet Research.

Revenue came in at $8.43 billion, a 5% increase, while worldwide case volume was also up 5%. In North America, volume grew 2%, while it rose 6% internationally.

Emerging markets were especially strong as volume in Eurasia and Africa was up 12%, including a 30% jump in Russia and double-digit growth in Turkey, the company said. China was up 12%, South Korea rose 13% and the Philippines posted a 19% gain. Latin America grew an aggregate 4% with Brazil the stand-out at a 13% rise.

“While certain regions were negatively impacted by weather, this was more than offset by strength in other markets,” wrote Esther Kwon of Standard & Poor’s as she maintained a string buy rating on the stock. “We continue to like shares on international exposure, particularly emerging markets, and strong cash generation.”

Earlier in the quarter, Coke said it planned to invest $1 billion in the Philippines over the next five years on production, distribution and new products.