Start here if you're new
what it is
Coca-Cola sells branded drinks through a giant bottling and retail network that reaches pretty much every fridge you pass.
how it gets paid
Last year Coca-Cola made $47.9B in revenue. North America was the main engine at $17.1B, or 36% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 1.9% last year. That was a 3.57% beat. Trailing revenue was $47.9B.
what just happened
Coca-Cola's last report was good enough, with EPS at $0.58 versus a $0.56 estimate.
At a glance
A+ balance sheet — rock-solid finances — built to survive anything
100/100 earnings predictability — you can trust these numbers
23.5x trailing p/e — priced about right
3.1% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
21.5% return on capital — every dollar works hard here
xvary composite: 81/100 — above average
What they do
Coca-Cola sells branded drinks through a giant bottling and retail network that reaches pretty much every fridge you pass.
Coca-Cola sells 500-plus beverage brands through company-owned and independent bottlers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers worldwide. That means your drink is already there before you ask for it, and 61% of 2024 net sales came from international markets. Operating margin (money left after running the business) was 35.5% even after advertising ran 10.9% of revenue, so what: the brand and shelf space are doing expensive work cheaply.
How they make money
$47.9B
annual revenue · their business grew +1.9% last year
Europe, Middle East & Africa
$8.3B
+5.7%
Latin America
$4.9B
+4.0%
North America
$17.1B
+8.0%
Asia Pacific
$5.7B
+3.0%
Global Ventures
$3.4B
+2.8%
Bottling Investments
$8.4B
12.0%
The products that matter
global branded beverage portfolio
core beverage business
$47.9B revenue · 27.4% net margin
it's the full revenue engine, and it still kept roughly $13.1B after expenses. that's why KO gets treated like a defensive holding instead of a cyclical consumer name.
entire business
what the page proves
pricing power
1.9% growth · 46% return on equity
slow top-line growth and high returns living together usually means the brand still has pricing power. in human-speak: they do not need to sell a lot more to earn well.
the key insight
portfolio detail on this page
segment disclosure here is thin
$47.9B total only
this snapshot does not split the business by brand, channel, or region. that's a page limitation, not a thesis. it just means you should treat the analysis here as big-picture, not segment-level.
data gap
Key numbers
35.5%
operating margin
Operating margin → money left after running the business → so what: Coca-Cola turns a simple drink into elite profitability.
21.5%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit earned on money invested → so what: this business still earns far more than most staples.
3.1%
dividend yield
Dividend yield → cash paid to you each year at today's price → so what: you get paid to wait.
$43.2B
long-term debt
Long-term debt → money owed over many years → so what: large in dollars, but just 13% of capital keeps it manageable.
Financial health
A+
strength
- balance sheet grade A+ — near the highest rating possible
- risk rank 1 — safer than 95% of stocks
- price stability 100 / 100
- long-term debt $43.2B (13% of capital)
- net profit margin 29.8% — keeps 30 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 48% — $0.48 profit for every $1 investors have put in
A+ with balance sheet grade and risk rank standing out. your money faces less risk here than at most public companies.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in KO 3 years ago → it's now worth $12,000.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Coca-Cola's last report was good enough, with EPS at $0.58 versus a $0.56 estimate.
That was a 3.57% beat. Trailing revenue was $47.9B, up 1.9%, which tells you this story is still about consistency and pricing, not volume fireworks.
$47.9B
revenue
$0.58
eps
62.1%
gross margin
the number that mattered
62.1% gross margin matters most because it shows Coca-Cola still keeps well over half of every sales dollar before overhead.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
KO's whole premium setup rests on one uncomfortable fact: revenue only grew 1.9%, so margin protection matters more here than it would for a faster grower.
high
input cost inflation
KO's valuation leans on that 27.4% net margin. if sugar, aluminum, packaging, or freight costs rise faster than pricing, the stock stops looking like a smooth defensive compounder and starts looking expensive.
27.4% net margin is the number doing the heavy lifting.
med
consumer trade-down
a weaker consumer does not need to stop buying beverages. they just need to choose cheaper ones more often. if that happens across a $47.9B revenue base, premium pricing gets harder to hold.
slow growth leaves less room for pricing mistakes.
med
health and sugar regulation
soda taxes, labeling changes, or tougher health rules would land directly on the core business. KO can adapt around a lot. it cannot make policy risk disappear.
the full beverage portfolio sits in the policy blast radius.
low
debt matters if rates stay high
$43.2B of long-term debt looks manageable with an A+ balance sheet. it still matters because higher rates make a 3.1% yield look less special, and defensive stocks live on relative attractiveness.
income competition changes how much investors will pay for steadiness.
here's what you should know right now: at 1.9% revenue growth, KO does not have much room to hide. if margin slips or the $3.20 EPS estimate moves down, the 23.5x multiple gets harder to justify.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
fy2026 EPS estimate
currently $3.20. if that drifts lower while the stock stays around $70, you are paying the same price for less profit.
trend
institutional flow
net buying has lasted three straight quarters, but the latest count was 1,485 buyers versus 1,480 sellers. that's support at the margin, not a stampede.
risk
net margin
27.4% is the number protecting the premium valuation. if it starts slipping, the defensive story gets thinner fast.
calendar
next earnings reset
the next report is the checkpoint. you want to see whether quarterly EPS moves back toward the $0.73–$0.87 range from earlier in FY2025.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 — in human-speak, the stock is acting normal. there is no special momentum push here.
risk profile
safest 5%
stability score 1 — this sits in the low-risk bucket, which is exactly why income investors keep coming back.
chart momentum
top 20%
technical score 2 — analysts expect above-average price performance in the year ahead. with KO, that usually means steady, not spectacular.
earnings predictability
100 / 100
few public companies score this high. if you want fewer earnings surprises, this is what that looks like.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 1,485 buyers vs. 1,480 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 3.1B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$62
$88
$70
current price
$75
target midpoint · +7% from current · 3-5yr high: $95 (+35% · 10% ann'l return)
Want the deeper analysis?
The full deep dive: dcf model, scenario analysis, competitive moat breakdown, and quarterly tracking — everything on this page, taken further.
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