Companies and Brands

Can Pepsi Beat Coke on Earnings?

Pepsi brands 2014
Pepsico Inc.
Wednesday morning, the age-old question of which is better, Coke or Pepsi, will be answered when PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) reports its fourth-quarter financial results. Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) reported its results Tuesday morning as $0.44 in earnings per share (EPS) and $10.87 billion in revenue, beating both top and bottom line estimates.

Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates for Pepsi as $1.08 in EPS and $19.66 billion in revenue. In the fourth quarter of the previous year, Pepsi reported $1.05 in EPS and $20.12 billion in revenue.

Comparatively, Pepsi has a market cap of $147 billion and Coke has a market cap of $186 billion.

Of the two companies, Coke currently looks a little better on paper. The company’s forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is 21.13 and the price-to-book value is 5.40. Pepsi’s forward P/E is 20.57 and the price-to-book value is 6.22. Based on a consensus price target of $44.61, the potential upside in Coca-Cola stock is around 7.6%, based on Friday’s closing price of $41.45. At Pepsi’s consensus price target of $103.14 and Friday closing price of $96.71, its implied gain is 6.6%.

ALSO READ: Strong Dollar Sets Coca-Cola Profit Outlook in Line With 2014

When we looked at the bull and bear cases for the 30 Dow stocks, Coca-Cola was one of the poorer performers in 2014 with a dividend-adjusted gain of just 5.3%, compared with a return of 7.5% from the Dow 30. Coke has taken stakes in both Keurig Green Mountain Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) and Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST) in an effort to diversify. It is not a particularly risky move because Coke can buy the smaller company or companies if the partnership is a success or it can sell the stakes without too much damage.

Pepsi’s snack food business provided a third of the company’s $309 million year-over-year revenue growth in the third quarter and more than half the company’s profit growth in the same period. Pepsi has to figure out a way to overcome the weakness in Russia and Venezuela, and if that were easy it would be done by now.

Shares of Pepsi were up 2% at $97.93 in the last hour of trading Tuesday. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $103.14 and a 52-week trading range of $77.01 to $100.70.

Coke shares were up 3% at $42.47. The consensus price target is $44.61, and the 52-week trading range is $36.89 to $45.00.

ALSO READ: America’s Best Run Companies

Are You Still Paying With a Debit Card?

The average American spends $17,274 on debit cards a year, and it’s a HUGE mistake. First, debit cards don’t have the same fraud protections as credit cards. Once your money is gone, it’s gone. But more importantly you can actually get something back from this spending every time you swipe.

Issuers are handing out wild bonuses right now. With some you can earn up to 5% back on every purchase. That’s like getting a 5% discount on everything you buy!

Our top pick is kind of hard to imagine. Not only does it pay up to 5% back, it also includes a $200 cash back reward in the first six months, a 0% intro APR, and…. $0 annual fee. It’s quite literally free money for any one that uses a card regularly. Click here to learn more!

 

Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings to provide coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.

AI Portfolio

Discover Our Top AI Stocks

Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.

You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.