Sunday, January 22, 2006

Comparing Coke and Pepsi Stocks

Coca Cola Co. (KO)
* Market capitalization – 95.38 billion
* P/E ratio – 18.49
* Earnings yield – 5.40%
* Dividend yield – 2.80%
* Return on equity – 33.09%
* Major products – Coke, Sprite, Dasani water, Minute-maid juices, Hi-C juices, Powerade, Nestea.

Pepsico (PEP)
* Market capitalization – 95.04 billion
* P/E ratio – 24.76
* Earnings yield – 4.04%
* Dividend yield – 1.80%
* Return on equity – 29.14%
* Major products – Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist, Aquafina, Lipton tea, Tropicana juices.

A few weeks ago Pepsico overtook Coca Cola in terms of market capitalization and became the larger company of the two. Today, Coke’s market capitalization is little bit higher than Pepsi’s.

It is hard to predict which soft-drink maker’s stock will outperform going forward. Maybe the race will be neck to neck or Pepsi will be better off on the strengths of its juice and other “non-pepsi” operations. I say, don’t try to pick here. I would rather invest in both of them; make a “soda index” in the portfolio and make it equal weighted and let it ride. The reason for equal weight in the portfolio is that both Pepsi and Coke are close to each other in terms of market capitalization.

5 comments:

muckdog said...

I think younger folks are gravitating to coffee rather than soda. I don't think the growth is there for sodas anymore. Schools are banning them. Aging boomers are avoiding sugar.

JLP said...

Don't forget that Pepsico owns Gatorade which is a pretty big-selling product.

Anyway, cool post. That's why I come to this website. I like the way you think about things.

JLP

AllThingsFianncialBlog.com

Anonymous said...

Both companies have very large international operations, though. Even if young people in the US are drinking more coffee and less coke, I think the rest of the world still has to catch up on drinking coke and/or pepsi.

Anonymous said...

Ko has the margin advantage. PEP has growth and diversification. Diversifcation can be met elsewhere. Ultimately, international markets will determine the winner. I am young and drink coffee, tea, beer, wine, spirits no soft drinks. I favor SBUX, STZ, etc.

Anonymous said...

Great comparison. I've never really looked that close at either company.

Hey, this would have been a great submission to the Carnival of Business!