Pepsi's market value tops Coke's (after 112 years!)

Busines Standard ^ | 12/14/05 | Andrew Ward

[voletti]

Pepsi emerges Wall Street's favourite beverage stock after 112 years.

PepsiCo has overtaken Coca-Cola in market capitalisation for the first time in 112 years of fierce competition.

The milestone reached yesterday highlighted the contrasting fortunes of the two cola giants over recent years, as PepsiCo has replaced Coca-Cola as Wall Street’s favourite beverage stock.

PepsiCo shares have risen 14 per cent this year, pushing the company’s stock value to a record high of $98.4bn yesterday.

Coca-Cola shares have declined 1.2 per cent, depressing the company’s worth to $97.9bn.

PepsiCo’s surging value reflects its successful diversification beyond sugary soft drinks as consumers have shifted towards healthier beverages.

In addition to its flagship cola, PepsiCo also produces Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices, Aquafina bottled water, Frito-Lay snacks and Quaker cereals.

The group generates more than half of its total sales through snacks and less than 20 per cent from soft drinks.

In contrast, Coke still relies on soft drinks for more than 80 per cent of revenue.

Coke has belatedly followed PepsiCo’s example by developing brands such as Minute Maid juices, Powerade sports drinks andDasani bottled water. But its non-carbonated products lag behind PepsiCo’s in market share.

[SoDak]

Hate Pepsi. I order Ice Tea when someone asks me if Pepsi is ok after I order a Diet Coke.

[Lancey Howard]

It had to happen sooner or later. Pepsi tastes better.

[Turbopilot]

My school has an exclusive contract with PepsiCo for all its vending machines. I have to go to the campus McDonald's to get an actual Coke between classes, which doesn't happen too much. So I feel like this is all my fault! :-p

[Darkwolf377]

I was a diehard Coke addict for years until they changed the formula. Even when they changed back, they had stopped using sugar and instead used corn syrup or something. I put up with it but the taste just got worse over the years, until it became damned-near undrinkable except in cans, for some reason.

I switched to Pepsi and haven't looked back. Granted taste is in the taste bud of the taster (??) but it looks like I'm not alone in stopping to drink Coke on impulse and realizing I didn't like it, it was just habit.

[voletti]

Well, I'm no fan of pepsi either, esp after its president Indira Nooyi allegedly made anti-US remarks speaking in Columbia...

[Herford Turley]

Coke rules and you know it!

:-)

[irishjuggler]

Market cap, shmarket cap. Things still go better with Coke.

[Darkwolf377]

Look at the headline: apparently, Coek doesn't rule.

It's all a matter of taste, of course, but it looks like Coke's dominance is slipping. There's a reason for that.

[wickedpinto]

I'm generally a Lemonade, Ice Tea or water guy. But when I want a soda I go pepsi. The taste is, generally neutral, when compared with Coke. In my opinion I prefer the reaction of pepsi on my tongue rather than coke. I don't know why it works that way. I DO prefer the sweet and light sensation of coke to pepsi, but ultimately for some reason as Coke passes over my tongue, I experience a faint . . . .well, pain. I understand that one is caustic and the other is acidic but I don't know why a swift sensation while swallowing the soda's of choice are so . . .. polarizing.

Very wordy, but felt that the classic "coke pepsi" fight should be defined through an honest opinion.

[Turbopilot]

Since I'm told such a preference is somehow a matter of opinion, it probably won't do much good to discuss the error of your ways...being on FR, however, I will note that Coca-Cola Co. is based in red Georgia while PepsiCo is based in blue New York :-p

[BigSkyFreeper]

Back when I was in high school many moons ago, the vending machine was a Pepsi vending machine, fountain machine for sporting events was also a Pepsi machine. There are no Coke distributors, but there are 2 Pepsi distributors up in this neck of the woods.

[Darkwolf377]

The remarks were posted here and you could probably dig them up. If I recall correctly, the controversy was much ado about nothing.

[Theresawithanh]

Iced tea is my favorite drink, but for a soda I prefer Coke over Pepsi. A soda that is kind of an in between Coke and Pepsi is Royal Crown Cola, or as they call it now, RC Cola, which I also like better than Pepsi.

We always called soda "pop" where I grew up. When I moved to California most everyone else called it soda. I have re-trained myself to call it soda when I am at home, and pop when I'm with the family.

[SpaceBar]

The sage advice given to Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate should have been "carbonated water and high fructose corn syrup".

[Turbopilot]

According to the article, Coke derives four times as much income on a percentage basis from its soft drinks as does Pepsi. So by "slipping" you must mean that now slightly fewer than 4 in 5 people prefer Coke, as opposed to the previous state of slightly more than 4 in 5 :-p

[wickedpinto]

"Coke rules and you know it!

:-)"

So I hear from the people I grew up with. It is the same with all "outgrown" experiences. Only some outgrow them :)

Coke rules? well then, I will introduce you to some of my old buds, and you could post on EVERY topic :)

assuming you ain't laying in a puddle of blood (that was my big turnoff)

[RWCon]

Has anyone tried Sam's Choice Cola. It's better than Pepsi
and it costs 58 cents for 2 liters.

[Herford Turley]

Don't drink regular Coke myself. There is no comparison between Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi. It's not even close. But if we're making real comparisons on taste, Diet Dr. Pepper tastes better than both of the others.

[mcg2000]

It's not cola vs. cola though ... it's acquisitions and total portfolios vs. one another.

Coke still owns 'em imop.