Coca-Cola vs Starbucks
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The short version
- Coca-Cola is the larger business, with $47.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $37.2B for Starbucks.
- Starbucks grew revenue faster (2.8%, against 1.9%).
- Coca-Cola kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (28.7% operating margin, against 7.9%).
- Coca-Cola turned more of its sales into free cash flow (11.1% FCF margin, against 6.6%).
- Starbucks earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (47.8%, against 18.3%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Starbucks’s earnings: a P/E of 57.9x against 29.2x for Coca-Cola.
| Latest fiscal year | KO · FY25 | SBUX · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $400.0B | $115.3B |
| Revenue | $47.9B | $37.2B |
| Free cash flow | $5.3B | $2.4B |
| Net income | $13.1B | $1.9B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 1.9% | 2.8% |
| 5-year growth | 7.8% | 9.6% |
| Share count change | −0.2% | 0.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 61.6% | — |
| Operating margin | 28.7% | 7.9% |
| Net margin | 27.3% | 5.0% |
| FCF margin | 11.1% | 6.6% |
| Return on capital | 18.3% | 47.8% |
| Return on equity | 46.0% | — |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $31.6B | $12.6B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.1x | 2.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $9.5B | $2.8B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 29.2x | 57.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 4 |
Revenue
FY16
KO $41.9B
SBUX $21.3B
FY17
KO $36.2B
SBUX $22.4B
FY18
KO $34.3B
SBUX $24.7B
FY19
KO $37.3B
SBUX $26.5B
FY20
KO $33.0B
SBUX $23.5B
FY21
KO $38.7B
SBUX $29.1B
FY22
KO $43.0B
SBUX $32.3B
FY23
KO $45.8B
SBUX $36.0B
FY24
KO $47.1B
SBUX $36.2B
FY25
KO $47.9B
SBUX $37.2B
KO
SBUX
Operating margin
FY16
KO 20.7%
SBUX 19.6%
FY17
KO 21.4%
SBUX 18.5%
FY18
KO 26.7%
SBUX 15.7%
FY19
KO 27.1%
SBUX 15.4%
FY20
KO 27.3%
SBUX 6.6%
FY21
KO 26.7%
SBUX 16.8%
FY22
KO 25.4%
SBUX 14.3%
FY23
KO 24.7%
SBUX 16.3%
FY24
KO 21.2%
SBUX 15.0%
FY25
KO 28.7%
SBUX 7.9%
KO
SBUX
Free cash flow
FY16
KO $6.5B
SBUX $3.3B
FY17
KO $5.3B
SBUX $2.7B
FY18
KO $6.1B
SBUX $10.0B
FY19
KO $8.4B
SBUX $3.2B
FY20
KO $8.7B
SBUX $114M
FY21
KO $11.3B
SBUX $4.5B
FY22
KO $9.5B
SBUX $2.6B
FY23
KO $9.7B
SBUX $3.7B
FY24
KO $4.7B
SBUX $3.3B
FY25
KO $5.3B
SBUX $2.4B
KO
SBUX
Return on capital
FY16
KO 13.3%
SBUX 40.7%
FY17
KO 7.6%
SBUX 39.7%
FY18
KO 14.1%
SBUX 72.5%
FY19
KO 15.7%
SBUX —
FY20
KO 12.9%
SBUX 40.7%
FY21
KO 14.5%
SBUX 115.8%
FY22
KO 16.1%
SBUX —
FY23
KO 16.8%
SBUX 135.4%
FY24
KO 14.2%
SBUX 101.8%
FY25
KO 18.3%
SBUX 47.8%
KO
SBUX
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.