Coca-Cola Co., the world’s largest beverage company, reported fourth-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates, helped by cost-cutting efforts and a shift toward higher-priced drinks.

Excluding some items, profit was 44 cents a share in the period, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola said Tuesday in a statement. Analysts had estimated 42 cents on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Chief Executive Officer Muhtar Kent is working to pare $3 billion from Coca-Cola’s annual costs as he copes with sluggish international growth and mounting concerns over obesity and artificial sweeteners. He also is raising prices to help offset the slowdown. Global volume grew 1 percent last quarter.

Coca-Cola “has been relatively diligent in its pricing strategy, which we believe has and will continue to drive top-line growth in domestic markets,” Bonnie Herzog, a New York- based analyst for Wells Fargo & Co., said in a note last week. She rates the shares outperform, the equivalent of a buy.

Coca-Cola shares rose in premarket trading after the results were released. The shares had dropped 2.3 percent this year through Monday, compared with a 0.6 percent decline for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.