Nathaniel Thiele

Coke Cola Logo

Background

The Coca-Cola Company was founded in the 1800s and focuses on selling soda and non-alcoholic beverages. They are a leader in sodas sales and a duopoly with Pepsi. With a market cap of $200 Billion plus and a dividend of 7.26 Billion dollars a year, they are one of the largest consumer staples companies.

Stock Information

Coke Cola makes a majority of its money from North America but has bottling operations in every country but North Korea and Cuba. The most famous shareholder is Berkshire Hathaway’s which owns a 9% stake. Coca-Cola is a dividend king. A dividend king increases the dividend every year for 50 years. 

Strengths

The Coca-Cola company has a huge brand and has an economic moat in the soda and beverage industry. Very little competition in the soda space and a very large distribution network allowing for a global presence. Coca-Cola has success in most beverages launched.

Weakness

Coca-Cola Company wasn’t able to get into energy drinks. Their exposure to energy drinks is from a stake in Monster Beverage. Coke Cola has recently been in a restructuring phase and has shrunk the number of brands owned in half. 

Opportunities

Coca-Cola Company has recently been expanding into Africa and has recently IPOed a bottler. Coca-Cola also has seen expansion from non-soda beverages such as Aquia water brand, tea brands, and alcohol brands in Japan. These expansions have created new markets.  

Threats

The Coca-Cola Company has a possible evasion tax court case currently. Coke Cola is threatened by rising inflations which may hurt body line estimates. Coca-Cola also has to be cautious as key markets such as China face major private-label competition.

Conclusion

The Coca-Cola Company is a good investment for those with a long-term investing horizon. Remember due diligence and invest at your own risk.