Coca-Cola vs PepsiCo

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KIRA’s take AI analyst

I put Coca-Cola and PepsiCo side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:

PepsiCo is the larger business, with $93.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $47.9B for Coca-Cola, about 2.0 times as much.
Coca-Cola kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (28.7% operating margin, against 12.2%).
Coca-Cola turned more of its sales into free cash flow (11.1% FCF margin, against 8.2%).
Coca-Cola earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (18.3%, against 16.4%).
Investors pay more for each dollar of Coca-Cola’s earnings: a P/E of 29.2x against 17.0x for PepsiCo.

Who comes out ahead

Of the 11 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.

Coca-Cola

9/11

5-year growthGross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-scoreNet debt / EBITDA

PepsiCo

PEP

2/11

Revenue growthShare count change

Side by side

Best in the row

Latest fiscal year	KO FY25	PEP FY25
Size
Market cap	$399.9B	$185.2B
Revenue	$47.9B	$93.9B
Free cash flow	$5.3B	$7.7B
Net income	$13.1B	$8.2B
Growth
Revenue growth	1.9%	2.3%
5-year growth	7.8%	5.9%
Share count change	−0.2%	−0.4%
Profitability
Gross margin	61.6%	54.2%
Operating margin	28.7%	12.2%
Net margin	27.3%	8.8%
FCF margin	11.1%	8.2%
Return on capital	18.3%	16.4%
Return on equity	46.0%	42.9%
Balance sheet
Net debt	$31.6B	$39.7B
Net debt / EBITDA	2.1x	2.7x
Dividends and buybacks	$9.5B	$8.6B
Valuation & quality
P/E	29.2x	17.0x
Piotroski F-score	7	6

Ten years

Revenue

FY16

KO $41.9B

PEP $62.8B

FY17

KO $36.2B

PEP $63.5B

FY18

KO $34.3B

PEP $64.7B

FY19

KO $37.3B

PEP $67.2B

FY20

KO $33.0B

PEP $70.4B

FY21

KO $38.7B

PEP $79.5B

FY22

KO $43.0B

PEP $86.4B

FY23

KO $45.8B

PEP $91.5B

FY24

KO $47.1B

PEP $91.9B

FY25

KO $47.9B

PEP $93.9B

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

KO PEP

Operating margin

FY16

KO 20.7%

PEP 15.6%

FY17

KO 21.4%

PEP 16.2%

FY18

KO 26.7%

PEP 15.6%

FY19

KO 27.1%

PEP 15.3%

FY20

KO 27.3%

PEP 14.3%

FY21

KO 26.7%

PEP 14.0%

FY22

KO 25.4%

PEP 13.3%

FY23

KO 24.7%

PEP 13.1%

FY24

KO 21.2%

PEP 14.0%

FY25

KO 28.7%

PEP 12.2%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

KO PEP

Free cash flow

FY16

KO $6.5B

PEP $7.6B

FY17

KO $5.3B

PEP $7.1B

FY18

KO $6.1B

PEP $6.1B

FY19

KO $8.4B

PEP $5.4B

FY20

KO $8.7B

PEP $6.4B

FY21

KO $11.3B

PEP $7.0B

FY22

KO $9.5B

PEP $5.6B

FY23

KO $9.7B

PEP $7.9B

FY24

KO $4.7B

PEP $7.2B

FY25

KO $5.3B

PEP $7.7B

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

KO PEP

Return on capital

FY16

KO 13.3%

PEP 22.4%

FY17

KO 7.6%

PEP 16.7%

FY18

KO 14.1%

PEP 29.4%

FY19

KO 15.7%

PEP 20.5%

FY20

KO 12.9%

PEP 17.9%

FY21

KO 14.5%

PEP 17.7%

FY22

KO 16.1%

PEP 19.0%

FY23

KO 16.8%

PEP 18.5%

FY24

KO 14.2%

PEP 19.6%

FY25

KO 18.3%

PEP 16.4%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

KO PEP

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.