MMarketMath

KO

StalwartQuality: Medium (67/100)2 red flags

Coca-Cola Company (The) · Consumer Staples · Soft Drinks & Non-alcoholic Beverages

$91.99

52w 65.35 – 92.49

20y monthly, adjusted

Mkt cap

$395.8B

P/E

29.9

P/FCF

74.0

FCF yield

1.4%

ROE

40.7%

Shldr yield

2.4%

div 2.2% + bb 0.2%

What today's price assumes

At $395.8B, the market is pricing in 25.6% annual free-cash-flow growth for the next decade (10% discount rate, 2.5% terminal growth). Over the last ten years, FCF actually grew -2.3% per year — the price asks for acceleration beyond the historical record.

Simple DCF per-share range: $12 · $12 · $15 (4% / base / optimistic growth). An estimate, not a target.

Adjust the assumptions yourself →

Historical multiple lens

At its own median P/OCF of 21.1× across 10 years, KO would trade near $36/share (25th–75th percentile: $32–$38); it trades at 53.4× today.

Assumes the historical multiple regime persists — re-ratings can be permanent.

Growth record

Compound annual growth rates from as-filed 10-K data, split-adjusted

Rev 3y

+3.7%

Rev 5y

+7.7%

Rev 10y

+1.5%

EPS 5y

+11.2%

EPS 10y

+8.2%

FCF 5y

−9.4%

FCF 10y

−2.3%

Fundamentals

Fiscal 2016–2025, from SEC filings

Revenue

2016: $41.9B
2017: $36.2B
2018: $34.3B
2019: $37.3B
2020: $33.0B
2021: $38.7B
2022: $43.0B
2023: $45.8B
2024: $47.1B
2025: $47.9B
$0$20.0B$40.0B
16
18
20
22
24

Net income

2016: $6.5B
2017: $1.2B
2018: $6.4B
2019: $8.9B
2020: $7.7B
2021: $9.8B
2022: $9.5B
2023: $10.7B
2024: $10.6B
2025: $13.1B
$0$5.0B$10.0B
16
18
20
22
24

Free cash flow

2016: $6.5B
2017: $5.3B
2018: $6.1B
2019: $8.4B
2020: $8.7B
2021: $11.3B
2022: $9.5B
2023: $9.7B
2024: $4.7B
2025: $5.3B
$0$5.0B$10.0B
16
18
20
22
24

Diluted shares (lower is better)

2016: 4.4B
2017: 4.3B
2018: 4.3B
2019: 4.3B
2020: 4.3B
2021: 4.3B
2022: 4.3B
2023: 4.3B
2024: 4.3B
2025: 4.3B
02.0B4.0B
16
18
20
22
24

Margins

0%20%40%60%1618202224
Net marginFCF marginGross margin

Capital returned (dividends + buybacks)

2016: $9.7B
2017: $10.0B
2018: $8.6B
2019: $7.9B
2020: $7.2B
2021: $7.4B
2022: $9.0B
2023: $10.2B
2024: $10.2B
2025: $9.5B
$0$5.0B$10.0B
16
18
20
22
24

Cash vs long-term debt

$20.0B$40.0B1618202224
CashLT debt

Quarterly

Discrete quarters from 10-Q filings; Q4 derived as fiscal year minus Q1–Q3. OCF is unwound from the year-to-date figures 10-Qs report. Compare to the same quarter a year ago — most businesses are seasonal.

Revenue by quarter

Q1'23: $11.0B
Q2'23: $12.0B
Q3'23: $12.0B
Q4'23: $10.8B
Q1'24: $11.3B
Q2'24: $12.4B
Q3'24: $11.9B
Q4'24: $11.5B
Q1'25: $11.1B
Q2'25: $12.5B
Q3'25: $12.5B
Q4'25: $11.8B
Q1'26: $12.5B
$0$5.0B$10.0B
23
23
24
25
26

Net income by quarter

Q1'23: $3.1B
Q2'23: $2.5B
Q3'23: $3.1B
Q4'23: $2.0B
Q1'24: $3.2B
Q2'24: $2.4B
Q3'24: $2.8B
Q4'24: $2.2B
Q1'25: $3.3B
Q2'25: $3.8B
Q3'25: $3.7B
Q4'25: $2.3B
Q1'26: $3.9B
$0$1.0B$2.0B$3.0B
23
23
24
25
26
QuarterRevenueYoYNet incomeYoYEPSOCF
Q1'26$12.5B+12.1%$3.9B+17.8%0.91$2.0B
Q4'25 *$11.8B+2.4%$2.3B+3.5%0.53$3.8B
Q3'25$12.5B+5.1%$3.7B+29.8%0.86$5.0B
Q2'25$12.5B+1.4%$3.8B+58.0%0.88$3.8B
Q1'25$11.1B−1.5%$3.3B+4.8%0.77−$5.2B
Q4'24 *$11.5B+6.4%$2.2B+11.3%0.50$4.0B
Q3'24$11.9B−0.8%$2.8B−7.7%0.66−$1.3B
Q2'24$12.4B+3.3%$2.4B−5.3%0.56$3.6B
Q1'24$11.3B+2.9%$3.2B+2.3%0.74$528.0M
Q4'23 *$10.8B+7.2%$2.0B−2.9%0.45$2.7B
Q3'23$12.0B+8.0%$3.1B+9.3%0.71$4.3B
Q2'23$12.0B+5.7%$2.5B+33.7%0.59$4.5B
Q1'23$11.0B+4.7%$3.1B+11.7%0.72$160.0M

Track record

Compound annual growth by period. For debt and share count, negative is the good direction.

Series3y5y10y15y
Revenue+3.7%+7.7%
Operating cash flow−12.4%−5.5%
Free cash flow−17.8%−9.4%
EPS (diluted)+11.6%+11.2%
Equity+10.1%+10.8%
LT debt+5.0%+1.0%
Diluted shares−0.3%−0.0%
Stock price+18.9%+13.6%+11.2%+9.9%

$100, 3 years ago

$168vs $176 in SPY

18.9% vs 20.7%/yr

$100, 5 years ago

$189vs $181 in SPY

13.6% vs 12.6%/yr

$100, 10 years ago

$289vs $412 in SPY

11.2% vs 15.2%/yr

$100, 15 years ago

$414vs $813 in SPY

9.9% vs 15.0%/yr

The $1 test — market value created per $1 of earnings retained (Buffett's hurdle: at least $1)

Last 5 years

$10.26

$141.7B created / $13.8B retained

Quality & capital discipline

Cash-based returns and how management deploys capital

Cash ROIC

10.0%

OCF ÷ (equity + debt)

OCF / EV yield

1.7%

MC vs 10× OCF

5.29

≤1 = priced under 10× OCF

Debt / FCF

8.0y

SBC / FCF

5.3%

Owner earnings

$5.0B

OCF − capex − SBC

OE yield

1.3%

Share count 5y

−0.1%

per year; negative = buybacks

Capital intensity

20.1%

net PP&E ÷ revenue

Sales efficiency

$-0.08

new PP&E per $1 new revenue, 5y

Growth engine (5y): reinvested 23.0% of operating cash flow at an incremental return of -21.4% — an organically fundable growth rate of about -4.9% per year (growth ≈ reinvestment rate × incremental ROIC).

Checklist

16 of 27 checks pass · 59%. Checks with structurally missing inputs are excluded.

Growth & Consistency

4/7

  • Revenue growth

    7.7% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • EPS growth

    11.2% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • FCF growth

    -9.4% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    fail
  • Revenue rises consistently

    6 of 9 · up in ≥ 7 of last 10 years

    fail
  • FCF consistently positive

    10 of 10 · positive in ≥ 8 of last 10 years

    pass
  • Profitable every year

    10 of 10 · net income > 0 in ≥ 8 of last 10

    pass
  • Cash flow keeps up with sales

    -5.5% vs 7.7% · OCF CAGR ≥ 0.9× revenue CAGR

    fail

Profitability

5/7

  • Net margin

    27.3% · ≥ 8%

    pass
  • Operating margin

    28.7% · ≥ 10%

    pass
  • Gross margin stable or rising

    61.6% vs 58.1% · no drop > 2 pts over 3y

    pass
  • Return on equity

    40.7% · ≥ 12%

    pass
  • Cash ROIC

    10.0% · ≥ 12%

    fail
  • FCF margin

    11.0% · ≥ 5%

    pass
  • Earnings back their cash

    OCF $7.4B vs NI $13.1B · OCF ≥ net income (latest FY)

    fail

Balance Sheet

3/5

  • Debt payable from cash flow

    8.0y · LT debt ≤ 3× FCF

    fail
  • Cash cushion

    24% · cash ≥ 50% of LT debt

    fail
  • Leverage

    1.31 · LT debt ≤ 1.5× equity

    pass
  • Equity positive and compounding

    $32.2B · equity > 0 and grew over ~5y

    pass
  • Interest burden

    12% · interest ≤ 15% of operating income

    pass

Capital Allocation

3/4

  • Share count flat or shrinking

    -0.1% · ≤ +0.5%/yr over ~5y

    pass
  • Stock comp restrained

    5% · SBC ≤ 15% of FCF

    pass
  • Distributions funded by FCF

    180% · dividends + buybacks ≤ 100% of FCF

    fail
  • Repurchases are a habit

    10 of 10 · buybacks in ≥ 5 of last 10 years

    pass

Valuation Discipline

1/4

  • FCF yield

    1.4% · ≥ 3%

    fail
  • Earnings multiple

    29.9 · P/E ≤ 25

    fail
  • Price asks less than history delivered

    25.6% vs -2.3% · implied FCF growth ≤ historical FCF CAGR

    fail
  • Shareholder yield

    2.4% · dividends + buybacks ≥ 2% of market cap

    pass

Red flags

Mechanical checks — a flag is a question to investigate, not a verdict

Heavy debt load

Long-term debt exceeds 5 years of free cash flow.

Distributions exceed FCF

Dividends plus buybacks exceeded free cash flow in the latest fiscal year.

Financial data

As filed in 10-Ks; per-share figures split-adjusted. $ in millions.

FYRevenueGross profitOp incomeNet incomeEPSOCFCapExFCFDividendsBuybacksSBCCashLT debtEquityShares
202547,94129,54413,76213,1073.047,4082,1125,2968,77974627910,27042,11932,1694,313
202447,06128,7379,99210,6312.466,8052,0644,7418,3591,79528610,82842,37524,8564,320
202345,75427,23411,31110,7142.4711,5991,8529,7477,9522,2892549,36635,54725,9414,339
202243,00425,00410,9099,5422.1911,0181,4849,5347,6161,4183569,51936,37724,1054,350
202138,65523,29810,3089,7712.2512,6251,36711,2587,2521113379,68438,11622,9994,340
202033,01419,5818,9977,7471.799,8441,1778,6677,0471181266,79540,12519,2994,323
201937,26622,64710,0868,9202.0710,4712,0548,4176,8451,1032016,48027,51618,9814,314
201834,30021,2339,1526,4341.507,6271,5486,0796,6441,9122259,07725,37616,9814,299
201736,21222,4917,7551,2480.297,0411,7505,2916,3203,6822196,10231,18217,0724,324
201641,86325,3988,6576,5271.498,7922,2626,5306,0433,6812588,55529,68423,0624,367

Some concepts are structurally absent for certain industries (banks report no gross profit or capex). Missing ≠ zero.