Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 25th, 2026

Aristotle Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO – Free Report) by 5.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,270,438 shares of the company’s stock after selling 730,342 shares during the period. CocaCola accounts for about 2.0% of Aristotle Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Aristotle Capital Management LLC owned 0.29% of CocaCola worth $933,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Anfield Capital Management LLC grew its position in CocaCola by 438.8% during the 4th quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in CocaCola by 1,081.8% during the fourth quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in CocaCola during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, Chairman James Quincey sold 436,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.13, for a total transaction of $34,960,398.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 122,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,842,608.29. This represents a 78.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.93, for a total value of $2,559,411.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $18,074,096.90. This represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 899,905 shares of company stock worth $71,832,315 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

CocaCola Stock Performance Shares of NYSE KO opened at $82.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $353.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.05. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $65.35 and a 52 week high of $85.68.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. CocaCola had a net margin of 27.80% and a return on equity of 40.55%. The business had revenue of $12.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. CocaCola’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

Key Stories Impacting CocaCola Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

Positive Sentiment: Warren Buffett reportedly said Coca-Cola remains one of his preferred businesses, reinforcing the company’s reputation as a durable, high-quality consumer staple and potentially supporting investor confidence. Article Title Positive Sentiment: Articles highlighting Coca-Cola as a top dividend stock and a favorite among large investors may help reinforce the stock’s defensive, income-oriented appeal. Article Title Positive Sentiment: Coverage ahead of Q2 earnings suggests Wall Street is watching for pricing strength and margin gains, which could support the stock if Coca-Cola beats expectations again. Article Title Neutral Sentiment: Several articles simply preview Coca-Cola’s upcoming results and key metrics, indicating investor focus is centered on the earnings release rather than a new company-specific catalyst. Article Title Negative Sentiment: Recent market commentary noted Coca-Cola underperformed the broader market in the latest session, reflecting near-term selling pressure on the shares. Article Title Negative Sentiment: Some analyst-style pieces argue investors could do better in other dividend stocks or Pepsico, which may create mild competition for Coca-Cola among income-focused buyers. Article Title Analyst Ratings Changes A number of research firms have issued reports on KO. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $83.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised CocaCola from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $88.00 target price on CocaCola in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.33.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on KO

About CocaCola (Free Report)

The Coca‑Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a global beverage manufacturer, marketer and distributor best known for its flagship Coca‑Cola soda. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company develops and sells concentrates, syrups and finished beverages across a broad portfolio of brands. Its product range spans sparkling soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready‑to‑drink teas and coffees, and other still beverages, marketed under both global and regional brand names.

Coca‑Cola’s brand portfolio includes widely recognized names such as Coca‑Cola, Diet Coke, Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade and Dasani, and in recent years the company has expanded into the coffee and premium beverage categories through acquisitions such as Costa Coffee.

Further Reading Five stocks we like better than CocaCola AMD and Cerbras Create A New Blueprint For Hardware Intel Earnings Reveal Whether the Chip Selloff Created a Buy CrowdStrike’s Cerebras Deal Puts Its AI Security Strategy to the Test Plugging In: How Kinder Morgan Powers Up Profits Want to see what other hedge funds are holding KO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO – Free Report).

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Coca-Cola (KO +1.33%), the world's largest beverage company, will post its second-quarter earnings report on July 28. Analysts expect its revenue and adjusted EPS to rise 4% and 7%, respectively, year over year. That growth should be driven by its market share gains in Asia and Latin America, robust sales in North America, the strength of its non-soda drinks, cooling inflation, and its supply chain optimization efforts.

During its first-quarter report on April 28, Coca-Cola predicted its organic revenue would rise 4%-5% for the full year, while its comparable EPS would grow 8%-9% (6%-7% on a constant-currency basis). It didn't provide an exact outlook for the second quarter, but it predicted the currency tailwinds would boost its organic revenue and comparable EPS.

Image source: Getty Images.

That outlook seems bright, but there's another simple reason to load up on Coca-Cola's stock before its next earnings report: it's a Dividend King with an evergreen business model.

Why is Coca-Cola an "evergreen" Dividend King? A Dividend King is a company that has raised its payout for at least 50 consecutive years. Coca-Cola is part of that elite club because it's raised its dividend annually for 64 consecutive years, even as the world endured five global recessions. It currently pays a forward yield of 2.6%, and its low trailing payout ratio of 65% gives it plenty of room for future dividend hikes.

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Coca-Cola supports its dividends with an evergreen business model. It only sells the concentrates and syrups for its beverages, while its independent bottling partners produce and distribute the finished drinks. That asset-light model enables it to maintain high operating margins while generating ample cash for dividends and buybacks.

Over the past few decades, Coca-Cola expanded its portfolio to include bottled water, teas, fruit juices, energy drinks, sports drinks, coffee, and even alcoholic beverages to reduce its dependence on sugary sodas. It also refreshed its classic sodas with smaller serving sizes, healthier versions, and new flavors.

That scale and diversification make Coca-Cola a safe stock to hold in bull and bear markets. It has a wide moat, plenty of ways to counter inflation and other macroeconomic shocks, and will continue to grow as it leverages AI to optimize its inventory, consolidate its bottling network, and expand its lineup of higher-growth dairy, energy, and sugar-free drinks. Coca-Cola might seem like a boring blue-chip stock, but that's exactly why it's worth buying in this frothy and turbulent market.

In the latest close session, Coca-Cola (KO - Free Report) was down 1.25% at $81.17. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.21% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.97%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 2.15%.

Shares of the world's largest beverage maker witnessed a gain of 1.99% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Consumer Staples sector with its gain of 3.66%, and outperforming the S&P 500's gain of 0.42%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Coca-Cola in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on July 28, 2026. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.92, indicating a 5.75% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $13.05 billion, indicating a 4.15% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

KO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.26 per share and revenue of $49.24 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +8.67% and +2.81%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Coca-Cola. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.08% lower within the past month. Currently, Coca-Cola is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Coca-Cola is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 25.22. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 20.58.

Meanwhile, KO's PEG ratio is currently 3.33. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. KO's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.18 as of yesterday's close.

The Beverages - Soft drinks industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 69, positioning it in the top 29% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.

The upcoming report from Coca-Cola (KO - Free Report) is expected to reveal quarterly earnings of $0.92 per share, indicating an increase of 5.8% compared to the year-ago period. Analysts forecast revenues of $13.05 billion, representing an increase of 4.1% year over year.

The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has undergone a downward revision of 0.2% in the past 30 days, bringing it to its present level. This represents how the covering analysts, as a whole, have reassessed their initial estimates during this timeframe.

Prior to a company's earnings announcement, it is crucial to consider revisions to earnings estimates. This serves as a significant indicator for predicting potential investor actions regarding the stock. Empirical research has consistently demonstrated a robust correlation between trends in earnings estimate revision and the short-term price performance of a stock.

While it's common for investors to rely on consensus earnings and revenue estimates for assessing how the business may have performed during the quarter, exploring analysts' forecasts for key metrics can yield valuable insights.

Given this perspective, it's time to examine the average forecasts of specific Coca-Cola metrics that are routinely monitored and predicted by Wall Street analysts.

According to the collective judgment of analysts, 'Net Operating Revenues- North America' should come in at $5.21 billion. The estimate suggests a change of +3.6% year over year.

Analysts' assessment points toward 'Net Operating Revenues- Latin America' reaching $1.73 billion. The estimate indicates a change of +8.9% from the prior-year quarter.

The average prediction of analysts places 'Net Operating Revenues- Asia Pacific' at $1.55 billion. The estimate indicates a change of -1.1% from the prior-year quarter.

The consensus estimate for 'Net Operating Revenues- Bottling investments' stands at $1.49 billion. The estimate indicates a year-over-year change of +5.8%.

It is projected by analysts that the 'Net Operating Revenues- Europe, Middle East & Africa' will reach $3.31 billion. The estimate points to a change of +4.3% from the year-ago quarter.

The collective assessment of analysts points to an estimated 'Net Operating Revenues- Corporate' of $37.32 million. The estimate points to a change of -4.3% from the year-ago quarter.

Analysts predict that the 'Operating Income- Europe, Middle East & Africa- Non-GAAP' will reach $1.41 billion. Compared to the current estimate, the company reported $1.36 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.

The consensus among analysts is that 'Operating Income- Bottling Investments- Non-GAAP' will reach $88.56 million. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported $60.00 million in the same quarter last year.

Analysts forecast 'Operating income- North America- Non-GAAP' to reach $1.64 billion. Compared to the current estimate, the company reported $1.58 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.

The combined assessment of analysts suggests that 'Operating Income- Asia Pacific- Non-GAAP' will likely reach $652.45 million. The estimate is in contrast to the year-ago figure of $664.00 million.

Analysts expect 'Operating Income- Latin America- Non-GAAP' to come in at $1.07 billion. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported $1.01 billion in the same quarter last year.

View all Key Company Metrics for Coca-Cola here>>>

Shares of Coca-Cola have experienced a change of +2% in the past month compared to the +0.4% move of the Zacks S&P 500 composite. With a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), KO is expected to mirror the overall market performance in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .

AR Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO – Free Report) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 176,595 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,364 shares during the period. CocaCola accounts for approximately 2.6% of AR Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. AR Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $13,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Signature Equity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of CocaCola by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 4,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in CocaCola by 6.1% during the first quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 476,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,267,000 after acquiring an additional 27,266 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in CocaCola by 9.5% during the first quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division now owns 6,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 0.8% in the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 247,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of CocaCola by 0.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,056,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,521,000 after purchasing an additional 34,259 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.93, for a total value of $2,559,411.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,074,096.90. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Chairman James Quincey sold 436,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.13, for a total value of $34,960,398.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 122,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,842,608.29. The trade was a 78.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 899,905 shares of company stock worth $71,832,315 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of research firms recently issued reports on KO. Truist Financial set a $88.00 target price on CocaCola in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $83.00 price target on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of CocaCola from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price target on CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CocaCola has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.33.

View Our Latest Report on CocaCola

Key Stories Impacting CocaCola Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

Positive Sentiment: Coca-Cola is getting attention for an AI-powered brand overhaul that aims to strengthen global recognition, support premium pricing, and improve marketing efficiency across more than 200 markets. Investors may view this as a sign the company is using technology to defend and expand its brand moat. Coca-Cola (KO) AI Brand Overhaul Puts Valuation Back In Focus Positive Sentiment: Separate coverage highlighted that Coca-Cola has used AI to improve its own branding and marketing, which may help drive better execution and sales efficiency. Another article pointed to a 15% vending-related surge tied to new AI marketing efforts, reinforcing the idea that digital tools could be boosting demand. Coca-Cola Used AI to Make Itself More Coca-Cola Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary noted that KO has already had a strong run this year, with shares up sharply over the past six months and valuation now a bigger focus. That can support confidence in the stock, but it also suggests less room for error at current levels. 2 Reasons to Watch KO and 1 to Stay Cautious Negative Sentiment: A hacking group claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Coca-Cola’s Fairlife unit, with reports saying the gang threatened to publish stolen data unless it received a ransom. Production at Fairlife was reportedly disrupted, raising concerns about near-term sales and operational continuity for one of Coca-Cola’s fastest-growing businesses. Gang claims responsibility for hack at Coca-Cola’s fairlife unit Negative Sentiment: Additional coverage said Fairlife production was halted after the ransomware attack, which could temporarily affect store shelves and investor sentiment even if Coca-Cola’s core beverage business remains intact. A Ransomware Attack Just Halted Coca-Cola’s Fairlife Production and Knocked the Stock Down 4%. Should Dividend Investors Care? CocaCola Trading Up 0.4% Shares of NYSE:KO opened at $82.32 on Thursday. CocaCola Company has a one year low of $65.35 and a one year high of $85.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $354.19 billion, a PE ratio of 25.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $81.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.94.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $12.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 40.55% and a net margin of 27.80%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. CocaCola’s dividend payout ratio is 66.67%.

CocaCola Company Profile (Free Report)

The Coca‑Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a global beverage manufacturer, marketer and distributor best known for its flagship Coca‑Cola soda. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company develops and sells concentrates, syrups and finished beverages across a broad portfolio of brands. Its product range spans sparkling soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready‑to‑drink teas and coffees, and other still beverages, marketed under both global and regional brand names.

Coca‑Cola’s brand portfolio includes widely recognized names such as Coca‑Cola, Diet Coke, Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade and Dasani, and in recent years the company has expanded into the coffee and premium beverage categories through acquisitions such as Costa Coffee.

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Coca-Cola Diet Coke cans on display for sale inside a shop in New Delhi, India, April 22, 2026. REUTERS/Bhawika Chhabra/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

CompaniesWASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - Hacking gang Anubis claimed credit on Tuesday for an attack ​on Coca-Cola-owned (KO.N), opens new tab dairy company fairlife, threatening ‌to publish stolen data unless it received an unspecified ransom.

The group made the claim on its ​dark web site, saying it had stolen ​1 terabyte of data from fairlife.

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Coca-Cola ⁠did not immediately respond to a request ​for comment, and the hackers did not immediately ​return a message.

Chicago-based fairlife makes dairy products including protein shakes and filtered milk drinks. Coca-Cola said last week ​that production at fairlife's U.S. facilities ​was temporarily suspended after a hack.

Anubis is one of ‌many ⁠cybercriminal gangs that paralyze their victims' networks until a ransom is paid, a practice that can occasionally have dramatic knock-on effects if ​critical networks ​are hit. ⁠Hackers typically threaten to publish stolen data in a bid to ​pressure their victims.

Anubis' operations have a ​particularly ⁠disruptive edge to them, according to an analysis published last year, opens new tab by cybersecurity firm Trend ⁠Micro, ​which cited the group's use ​of file wiping software.

Reporting by Raphael Satter; Additional reporting ​by Koyena Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Reporter covering cybersecurity, surveillance, and disinformation for Reuters. Work has included investigations into state-sponsored espionage, deepfake-driven propaganda, and mercenary hacking.

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 21st, 2026

Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted its stake in CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO – Free Report) by 74.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,672 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,098 shares during the quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s holdings in CocaCola were worth $1,744,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Anfield Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in CocaCola by 438.8% in the 4th quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the first quarter worth $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CocaCola in the second quarter worth $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 1,081.8% during the fourth quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola In related news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.93, for a total value of $2,559,411.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 223,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,074,096.90. This represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Chairman James Quincey sold 436,296 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.13, for a total transaction of $34,960,398.48. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 122,833 shares in the company, valued at $9,842,608.29. The trade was a 78.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 899,905 shares of company stock worth $71,832,315 over the last ninety days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key CocaCola News Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted Coca-Cola’s pricing power and ability to balance higher prices with affordability and volume growth, suggesting the company can protect margins and sustain durable growth in 2026. Coca-Cola’s Pricing Power: Is it Still Driving Growth in 2026? Positive Sentiment: UBS said Coca-Cola’s growth outlook remains strong ahead of Q2 results, with expectations that the company will deliver solid earnings and keep full-year guidance intact, which could support shares if confirmed. Coca-Cola’s Growth Outlook Remains Strong Ahead of Q2 Results, UBS Says Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage also noted that KO is trading near all-time highs as investors rotate away from more volatile AI names, reinforcing Coca-Cola’s appeal as a stable large-cap holding. 5 Stocks Quietly Trading Near All-Time Highs While Everyone Watches the AI Drama (KO) Neutral Sentiment: Coca-Cola picked bankers for a possible India bottler IPO, which could be a long-term strategic move but does not yet provide enough detail on valuation, timing, or financial impact. Coca-Cola picks bankers for its India bottler IPO Neutral Sentiment: Multiple pieces of analyst and technical commentary are keeping KO in focus before earnings, but they are mostly reiterating existing bullish sentiment rather than revealing a fresh catalyst. Coca-Cola Stock in Focus: A Look at the Earnings, Analyst Activity, Technical Picture Negative Sentiment: Some commentary argues KO is trading at a premium valuation versus peers, which could limit upside if upcoming earnings or guidance fail to exceed expectations. Coca-Cola: Safety Has A Price, But Right Now, It’s A Premium One CocaCola Price Performance KO opened at $82.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $353.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.34. CocaCola Company has a 1 year low of $65.35 and a 1 year high of $85.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $81.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.77.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $12.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 40.55% and a net margin of 27.80%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. Analysts forecast that CocaCola Company will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. CocaCola’s payout ratio is 66.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup lifted their target price on CocaCola from $91.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Bank of America upped their target price on CocaCola from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CocaCola from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CocaCola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.20.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on CocaCola

CocaCola Profile (Free Report)

The Coca‑Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a global beverage manufacturer, marketer and distributor best known for its flagship Coca‑Cola soda. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company develops and sells concentrates, syrups and finished beverages across a broad portfolio of brands. Its product range spans sparkling soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready‑to‑drink teas and coffees, and other still beverages, marketed under both global and regional brand names.

Coca‑Cola’s brand portfolio includes widely recognized names such as Coca‑Cola, Diet Coke, Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade and Dasani, and in recent years the company has expanded into the coffee and premium beverage categories through acquisitions such as Costa Coffee.

Read More Five stocks we like better than CocaCola The Ugliest Stocks in the Market Just Got a Very Expensive Vote of Confidence Is Domino’s Stock Serving Up a Buying Opportunity? A $1T Black Hole: SpaceX Eyes Pentagon AI to Break Free Why Gold Miners Could Be the Market’s Biggest Comeback Story Want to see what other hedge funds are holding KO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO – Free Report).

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One of the fastest-growing brands in the American dairy aisle just went dark, and a cyberattack is the reason.

In a securities filing on July 16, 2026, Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO | KO Price Prediction) disclosed that its Fairlife dairy subsidiary was hit by a ransomware attack that breached its IT systems, including production-related systems. Fairlife’s U.S. production operations are “temporarily suspended,” though Canadian operations are unaffected. The Fairlife hack is now rippling toward grocery shelves, and the Coca-Cola ransomware disclosure leaves the key question unanswered: when production comes back.

What Coca-Cola Has Confirmed, And What It Hasn’t Coca-Cola says product quality and safety have not been impacted. The company has not given a restoration timeline, and as of this writing, no ransomware group has claimed responsibility. Whether customer, employee, or partner data was stolen, and whether Coca-Cola is being extorted, both remain unknown. On the attacker’s identity and any ransom demand, the responsible answer is that we simply do not know.

The company says it activated its incident response and business continuity protocols, is working with outside cybersecurity advisors, and has notified law enforcement.

Why Fairlife Matters More Than Its Size Suggests Fairlife has scaled fast. Its sales surpassed $1 billion in 2022, up from an estimated $90 million in 2015, and more recent estimates put 2024 sales at roughly $4 billion. The $1 billion figure marks when the brand crossed the threshold. It has grown well past that since.

Coca-Cola bet heavily on that trajectory. It acquired Fairlife outright in 2020, and the total price, including earn-outs, reached roughly $7.4 billion over five years, the largest brand acquisition in Coca-Cola’s 133-year history. Fairlife’s ultra-filtered milk and Core Power protein shakes rode, and helped drive, the modern high-protein eating trend, a wave amplified by GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic. This is a strategic crown jewel for Atlanta.

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What It Means For Store Shelves A production suspension at a brand this large does not stay invisible for long, and history shows why. When Arizona Beverages was hit by ransomware in 2019, and when grocery distributor UNFI was struck in 2025, both incidents caused production and distribution disruptions that ran for weeks and left empty shelves in their wake. Without a restoration timeline, a similar risk exists here.

Fairlife is a top seller in protein-fortified dairy, a category with few direct competitors. When a commoditized brand goes offline, shoppers barely notice because rivals fill the gap. When a category leader with few substitutes goes dark, the hole is harder to plug. A prolonged Fairlife shortage would therefore have an outsized effect on shelf availability.

The Bigger Takeaway The market has taken notice without panicking. KO closed at $82.12 on July 20, down 2.53% over the prior week yet still up 19.05% year to date. Polymarket traders now assign a 79.5% probability that Q2 global unit case volume growth comes in below 3.5%, a downshift from Q1’s 3% global volume print. The same crowd still gives an 87.5% probability that Coca-Cola beats consensus when it reports on July 28.

For shoppers, the message is measured. Coca-Cola says the product is safe, Canadian supply is running, and recovery work is underway. But if the outage stretches on, the milk brand cyberattack that began as an SEC filing could end as a visible gap in the dairy case, and a Fairlife shortage would be the clearest sign that a digital attack reached all the way to the grocery shelf.

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Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Coca-Cola (KO +0.69%) disclosed Thursday that a ransomware attack forced it to temporarily suspend U.S. production at Fairlife, its fast-growing dairy business, and the stock fell about 4% on Friday. For dividend investors, this looks like an operational headache -- not a threat to the payout.

Here's what happened. Fairlife identified unauthorized third-party access to portions of its systems, including production-related systems. The company halted U.S. production while it investigates with outside cybersecurity experts, though its Canadian operations continue unaffected. "Product quality and safety have not been impacted," Coca-Cola said in its press release about the incident. The full scope of the attack, the company acknowledged, is not yet known.

Image source: Getty Images.

How big is the hole? Fairlife matters more than a dairy brand might suggest. Its ultra-filtered milk and Core Power protein shakes have grown into a business that generated about $4 billion in retail sales in 2024, making it one of Coca-Cola's biggest growth stories of the past decade.

But scale is the key context here. Coca-Cola generated $12.5 billion of revenue in the first quarter alone. Even if U.S. Fairlife production stays offline for several weeks, the direct hit to Coca-Cola would be a small fraction of one quarter's revenue.

The dividend, meanwhile, rests on a much wider base. Coca-Cola raised its payout for a 64th consecutive year in February, lifting the quarterly dividend about 4% to $0.53 per share, and it paid shareholders $8.8 billion in dividends in 2025. At the current share price, the dividend stock yields about 2.6%. And the company generates the cash to back the payout -- management expects about $12.2 billion of free cash flow this year.

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The business also entered this mess with momentum. First-quarter organic revenue grew 10% year over year, and comparable earnings per share climbed 18% to $0.86.

The real checkpoint comes soon. Coca-Cola reports second-quarter results before the market opens on Tuesday, July 28. Expect management to address the attack directly -- how long production could stay down, what recovery will cost, and any change to the full-year outlook. That last item matters most.

Of course, ransomware is a legitimate operational risk, and shutdowns like this one can drag on longer than companies first expect. A prolonged outage would likely hand market share to rival dairy brands and take some shine off one of Coca-Cola's best growers.

But a six-decade dividend streak doesn't hinge on one brand's production line. Unless the July 28 report reveals damage far beyond what the company has described, the income case for Coca-Cola looks intact -- cyberattack and all.

Investors often turn to recommendations made by Wall Street analysts before making a Buy, Sell, or Hold decision about a stock. While media reports about rating changes by these brokerage-firm employed (or sell-side) analysts often affect a stock's price, do they really matter?

Before we discuss the reliability of brokerage recommendations and how to use them to your advantage, let's see what these Wall Street heavyweights think about Coca-Cola (KO - Free Report) .

Coca-Cola currently has an average brokerage recommendation (ABR) of 1.38, on a scale of 1 to 5 (Strong Buy to Strong Sell), calculated based on the actual recommendations (Buy, Hold, Sell, etc.) made by 26 brokerage firms. An ABR of 1.38 approximates between Strong Buy and Buy.

Of the 26 recommendations that derive the current ABR, 20 are Strong Buy and two are Buy. Strong Buy and Buy respectively account for 76.9% and 7.7% of all recommendations.

Brokerage Recommendation Trends for KO

Check price target & stock forecast for Coca-Cola here>>>

While the ABR calls for buying Coca-Cola, it may not be wise to make an investment decision solely based on this information. Several studies have shown limited to no success of brokerage recommendations in guiding investors to pick stocks with the best price increase potential.

Are you wondering why? The vested interest of brokerage firms in a stock they cover often results in a strong positive bias of their analysts in rating it. Our research shows that for every "Strong Sell" recommendation, brokerage firms assign five "Strong Buy" recommendations.

In other words, their interests aren't always aligned with retail investors, rarely indicating where the price of a stock could actually be heading. Therefore, the best use of this information could be validating your own research or an indicator that has proven to be highly successful in predicting a stock's price movement.

Zacks Rank, our proprietary stock rating tool with an impressive externally audited track record, categorizes stocks into five groups, ranging from Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) to Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), and is an effective indicator of a stock's price performance in the near future. Therefore, using the ABR to validate the Zacks Rank could be an efficient way of making a profitable investment decision.

ABR Should Not Be Confused With Zacks RankIn spite of the fact that Zacks Rank and ABR both appear on a scale from 1 to 5, they are two completely different measures.

Broker recommendations are the sole basis for calculating the ABR, which is typically displayed in decimals (such as 1.28). The Zacks Rank, on the other hand, is a quantitative model designed to harness the power of earnings estimate revisions. It is displayed in whole numbers -- 1 to 5.

It has been and continues to be the case that analysts employed by brokerage firms are overly optimistic with their recommendations. Because of their employers' vested interests, these analysts issue more favorable ratings than their research would support, misguiding investors far more often than helping them.

On the other hand, earnings estimate revisions are at the core of the Zacks Rank. And empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

Furthermore, the different grades of the Zacks Rank are applied proportionately across all stocks for which brokerage analysts provide earnings estimates for the current year. In other words, at all times, this tool maintains a balance among the five ranks it assigns.

There is also a key difference between the ABR and Zacks Rank when it comes to freshness. When you look at the ABR, it may not be up-to-date. Nonetheless, since brokerage analysts constantly revise their earnings estimates to reflect changing business trends, and their actions get reflected in the Zacks Rank quickly enough, it is always timely in predicting future stock prices.

Is KO a Good Investment?Looking at the earnings estimate revisions for Coca-Cola, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has remained unchanged over the past month at $3.26.

Analysts' steady views regarding the company's earnings prospects, as indicated by an unchanged consensus estimate, could be a legitimate reason for the stock to perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

The size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for Coca-Cola. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

It may therefore be prudent to be a little cautious with the Buy-equivalent ABR for Coca-Cola.

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 20th, 2026

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO – Free Report) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,822,295 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 235,785 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.44% of CocaCola worth $1,431,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Anfield Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CocaCola by 438.8% in the fourth quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new position in CocaCola in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in CocaCola in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in CocaCola by 1,081.8% in the 4th quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in CocaCola in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes KO has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of CocaCola from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $83.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Truist Financial set a $88.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a report on Friday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of CocaCola from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on CocaCola from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.81.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on KO

Insider Activity at CocaCola In other CocaCola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 31,625 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.93, for a total value of $2,559,411.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $18,074,096.90. The trade was a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Chairman James Quincey sold 436,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.13, for a total value of $34,960,398.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 122,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,842,608.29. This trade represents a 78.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 899,905 shares of company stock worth $71,832,315. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about CocaCola Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:

Positive Sentiment: Heavy call-option activity suggests traders are positioning for a rebound or expecting volatility around the stock. Traders bought 75,333 call options, well above the recent average. Quiver Quant article on Coca-Cola options activity and cyberattack Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage noted KO benefiting from its defensive profile as investors look for more stable dividend names ahead of earnings, which may be helping support interest in the stock despite the cybersecurity issue. Benzinga article on Coca-Cola stock movement Neutral Sentiment: Coca-Cola also announced a quarterly dividend, reinforcing its appeal as a high-quality income stock, though this is unlikely to be the main driver of today’s trading. Negative Sentiment: The fairlife cyberattack is the key negative catalyst, since it hit a growth brand and temporarily suspended U.S. production, raising fears of lost revenue and added recovery costs. Reuters article on fairlife production halt CocaCola Stock Down 0.1% NYSE KO opened at $81.50 on Monday. CocaCola Company has a 52 week low of $65.35 and a 52 week high of $85.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.68. The firm has a market cap of $350.65 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.34.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $12.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 27.80% and a return on equity of 40.55%. CocaCola’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CocaCola Company will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. CocaCola’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

About CocaCola (Free Report)

The Coca‑Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a global beverage manufacturer, marketer and distributor best known for its flagship Coca‑Cola soda. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company develops and sells concentrates, syrups and finished beverages across a broad portfolio of brands. Its product range spans sparkling soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready‑to‑drink teas and coffees, and other still beverages, marketed under both global and regional brand names.

Coca‑Cola’s brand portfolio includes widely recognized names such as Coca‑Cola, Diet Coke, Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade and Dasani, and in recent years the company has expanded into the coffee and premium beverage categories through acquisitions such as Costa Coffee.

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Coca-Cola (KO 4.02%) stock has been having an exceptional rise this year. As of this writing, it's up almost 20% year to date, versus 11% for the S&P 500.

It's not a growth stock, and it's not releasing revolutionary technology. It has other features, though, that the market loves right now. However, the stock's rise might be coming to an end soon. Here's why.

Image source: Getty Images.

Safe stocks and Dividend Kings Coca-Cola is a Dividend King, which means that it has raised its dividend annually for at least 50 years. It has one of the best track records of any Dividend King, having raised its dividend for the 64th time straight in February.

It's considered a safe stock because it's so reliable for strong sales in any environment and has increased the dividend under all kinds of adverse circumstances. Fans love its beverages and will buy them even when there's economic pressure, and they can't be easily replaced by competitors; enough have tried over the years.

In general, though, Coca-Cola stock doesn't beat the market. It tends to demonstrate steady, although slow, sales increases, and it's prized for passive income, not growth.

This year, the market is appreciating these features in the face of economic volatility. The company has also been reporting strong performance, and its model of localized production protected it as tariffs were increased. It's also staying on top of new technology to boost sales.

Coca-Cola has about 200 brands, and it's leaning into artificial intelligence (AI) to gain insight into what products work best in each global region. It's a large and complex business, and the company can continue to capture market share as it reaches new consumers and gives existing ones more of what they want.

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In the 2026 first quarter, organic revenue increased 10% year over year, and total revenue was up 12%. Comparable operating margin expanded from 33.8% to 34.5%, and comparable earnings per share (EPS) rose 18% to $0.86. These were solid results against a challenging backdrop.

Coca-Cola reports second-quarter earnings on July 28. Management is guiding for full-year organic revenue growth of 4% to 5% and adjusted comparable EPS growth of 8% to 9%. Those are lower rates than the first quarter, implying a slowdown later this year.

If the company beats Wall Street's expectations, the stock could gain some more in the short term. But there's only so high a low-growth stock like Coca-Cola can rise. It's already become fairly expensive, trading at 24 times next year's earnings.

Coca-Cola can be a valuable addition to a dividend-centered portfolio, but I wouldn't expect the stock to keep outperforming.

In the latest close session, Coca-Cola (KO - Free Report) was down 3.96% at $81.56. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.01%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.77%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.4%.

The world's largest beverage maker's stock has climbed by 6.97% in the past month, exceeding the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 1.62% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.32%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Coca-Cola in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on July 28, 2026. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.92, marking a 5.75% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $13.05 billion, indicating a 4.15% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $3.26 per share and a revenue of $49.29 billion, demonstrating changes of +8.67% and +2.92%, respectively, from the preceding year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Coca-Cola. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed an unchanged state. Right now, Coca-Cola possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Coca-Cola currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 26.04. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 20.46 for its industry.

One should further note that KO currently holds a PEG ratio of 3.39. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. As the market closed yesterday, the Beverages - Soft drinks industry was having an average PEG ratio of 2.24.

The Beverages - Soft drinks industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 78, this industry ranks in the top 32% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

By PYMNTS  |  July 17, 2026

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Seventeen companies in the United States have reported or been affected by cyber incidents this year amid a worldwide surge in artificial intelligence-driven cyberattacks, Reuters reported Friday (July 17).

The latest company to report a cyberattack is Fairlife, a dairy company owned by The Coca-Cola Co. Coca-Cola said in a Thursday press release that Fairlife identified unauthorized access by a third party to its production-related systems and some other systems, in connection with a ransomware event, temporarily suspended its U.S. production operations, and is working to complete an investigation and restore the systems.

“After detecting the issue, the company promptly activated its incident response and business continuity protocols,” Coca-Cola said in the release. “The company’s investigation and assessment of the impact of the incident is ongoing, with the assistance of outside advisers and cybersecurity experts. The company has also notified law enforcement.”

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) said in April that it received 22,364 internet crime complaints that contained references to AI in 2025. These AI-related complaints reported losses of $893 million.

“AI-enabled synthetic content is becoming increasingly difficult to detect and easier to make, which allows criminal actors to potentially conduct successful fraud schemes against individuals, businesses and financial institutions,” the FBI said in its 2025 Internet Crime Report.

Overall, across all categories of internet crime, IC3 received 1,008,597 complaints that reported $20.9 billion in losses in 2025. Those figures were up from 859,532 and $16.6 billion, respectively, in 2024.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Is That Content Generated by AI or Humans? Hard to Tell” found that content produced by AI can deceive humans and AI systems alike and that this has led to businesses and regulators racing to implement strategies to address the growing threat.

The White House launched an AI security initiative called Gold Eagle on Tuesday (July 14), saying this federal AI cybersecurity clearinghouse is designed to consolidate vulnerability findings from government and critical infrastructure industries, prioritize the most consequential flaws and coordinate remediation before they are exploited.

In the latest trading session, Coca-Cola (KO - Free Report) closed at $84.92, marking a +3% move from the previous day. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.51%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.2%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 1.47%.

Shares of the world's largest beverage maker witnessed a gain of 3.15% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Consumer Staples sector with its loss of 0.9%, and the S&P 500's gain of 0.53%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Coca-Cola in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on July 28, 2026. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.92, marking a 5.75% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $13.05 billion, showing a 4.15% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.26 per share and revenue of $49.31 billion, which would represent changes of +8.67% and +2.96%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Coca-Cola. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Coca-Cola is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In the context of valuation, Coca-Cola is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 25.28. This represents a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 20.4.

One should further note that KO currently holds a PEG ratio of 3.29. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Beverages - Soft drinks stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.21 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Beverages - Soft drinks industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 93, finds itself in the top 38% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Coca-Cola Company today announced that fairlife, LLC, a dairy company owned by Coca-Cola, identified unauthorized access by a third party to a portion of its systems, including its production-related systems, in connection with a ransomware event.

After detecting the issue, the company promptly activated its incident response and business continuity protocols. The company’s investigation and assessment of the impact of the incident is ongoing, with the assistance of outside advisors and cybersecurity experts. The company has also notified law enforcement. The full scope, nature and impacts of the incident are not yet known.

Product quality and safety have not been impacted. However, as a result of the incident, production operations at fairlife in the United States are temporarily suspended. fairlife’s Canada production operations are not currently impacted.

The company is working diligently to complete the investigation and restore the systems and impacted operations.

About The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories. Our company’s purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. We sell multiple billion-dollar brands across several beverage categories worldwide. Our portfolio of sparkling soft drink brands includes Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta. Our water, sports, coffee and tea brands include Dasani, smartwater, vitaminwater, Topo Chico, BODYARMOR, Powerade, Costa, Georgia, Fuze Tea, Gold Peak and Ayataka. Our juice, value-added dairy and plant-based beverage brands include Minute Maid, Simply, innocent, Del Valle, fairlife and Santa Clara. We’re constantly transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to bringing innovative new products to market. We seek to positively impact people’s lives, communities and the planet through water replenishment, packaging recycling, sustainable sourcing practices and carbon emissions reductions across our value chain. Together with our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide. Learn more at www.coca-colacompany.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements

This document includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Generally, the words “believe,” “opportunity,” “ahead,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “project,” “will” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which generally are not historical in nature. All statements other than historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current beliefs, assumptions, and expectations regarding future events, which in turn are based on information currently available. Such statements may relate to The Coca-Cola Company’s investigation of and remediation efforts related to the cyber incident; the current understanding regarding the extent of the incident; the scope of systems, data or other technology that was accessed by the unauthorized third party and the impacts of the incident; the disruption to business operations; and the impact of the cyber incident on the Company including our financial condition and results of operations, among other matters. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements do not guarantee future outcomes and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors discussed in detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, and our subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which are available from the SEC. The Coca-Cola Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Key Takeaways Coca-Cola combines global scale, portfolio diversity, pricing power and dependable cash generation.Vita Coco benefits from coconut water growth, rising household penetration and international expansion.Forward P/E is 24.37X for Coca-Cola and 39.02X for Vita Coco, reflecting different risk profiles. The global beverage industry is dominated by legacy giants and fast-growing niche brands, making comparisons between established leaders and emerging challengers like The Coca-Cola Company (KO - Free Report) and The Vita Coco Company, Inc. (COCO - Free Report) increasingly compelling.

Coca-Cola has built one of the world's largest beverage portfolios, commanding a dominant position across carbonated soft drinks, juices, sports drinks, coffee and water through an unmatched global distribution network. Meanwhile, Vita Coco has carved out a leadership position in the rapidly expanding coconut water category, capitalizing on shifting consumer preferences toward healthier, plant-based hydration. Although the two companies operate on vastly different scales, both have established strong brands within their respective markets.

While Coca-Cola's business is driven by its diversified portfolio, global reach and decades of market leadership, Vita Coco remains a category-focused player with a premium brand in functional beverages. Coca-Cola's immense market share across multiple beverage segments provides stability and pricing power, whereas Vita Coco's leadership in coconut water gives it significant exposure to one of the fastest-growing niches in the non-alcoholic beverage industry.

This contrast between a diversified beverage powerhouse and a focused health-oriented brand makes the Coca-Cola versus Vita Coco comparison particularly interesting for investors evaluating long-term growth, competitive positioning and market opportunities.

The Case for KOCoca-Cola remains a compelling investment due to its unmatched scale, broad portfolio and sustained market-share momentum. The company has gained overall value share for 20 consecutive quarters, reinforcing its leadership across the global beverage industry. Its portfolio spans sparkling drinks, water, sports beverages, juices, dairy, tea and coffee, allowing Coca-Cola to serve consumers across age groups, income levels and drinking occasions. Its bottling network creates a powerful execution advantage worldwide.

Its strategy centers on consumer insight, innovation, intimacy and integrated execution. Coca-Cola is expanding zero-sugar, functional and localized offerings while supporting affordability through varied package sizes and price points. Brands such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Powerade, fairlife, smartwater and Fuze Tea strengthen the company’s reach across mainstream, younger and health-conscious consumers. Connected packaging, personalized content and digital promotions deepen engagement, improve data collection and convert brand interactions into transactions.

Coca-Cola delivered strong organic revenue growth, higher operating margins, double-digit comparable earnings growth and a solid free cash flow, while maintaining conservative leverage. Tariff dynamics and supply disruptions could raise aluminum, PET and other input costs, particularly for bottlers. However, revenue-growth management, procurement scale, productivity programs and localized pricing provide meaningful protection, supporting resilient profitability and long-term shareholder returns.

The Case for COCOVita Coco offers an attractive investment case as the leading brand in one of the fastest-growing areas of the beverage aisle. Coconut water sales rose sharply in the United States and Europe, while Vita Coco gained branded share across major international markets. The company is benefiting from rising household penetration, stronger consumption per household and growing demand for natural hydration. Its asset-light model, leading category position and expanding supply capacity provide a foundation for sustained growth.

Vita Coco’s strategy focuses on widening the coconut water category rather than merely defending share. The flagship brand is positioned around clean ingredients, potassium and electrolyte-rich hydration, helping it attract younger, health-conscious and performance-oriented consumers. Management is also expanding convenience-store distribution, increasing shelf presence, investing in social media marketing and building international scale. Private-label operations and selective innovations, including coconut milk-based products, add portfolio diversity without distracting from the core brand.

Financial performance remains strong, supported by robust sales growth, margin expansion, higher adjusted EBITDA and a debt-free balance sheet with substantial cash. Tariff reversals and lower ocean freight have supported profitability, although packaging, energy and transportation inflation remain risks. Management views these pressures as manageable and retains pricing flexibility if costs remain elevated.

Price Performance & Valuation of COCO & KOShares of Vita Coco have rallied 54.7% in the past three months compared with Coca-Cola’s rise of 8.9%. Both companies have demonstrated resilience amid a challenging consumer backdrop, reflecting investor confidence in their defensive business models and global brand strength.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, Vita Coco currently trades at a higher forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 39.02X compared with Coca-Cola’s 24.37X. 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Vita Coco has sharply outperformed Coca-Cola, reflecting stronger investor enthusiasm for its growth prospects and category momentum. However, its richer valuation leaves less room for execution setbacks. Coca-Cola offers a steadier investment profile, supported by mature operations, dependable cash generation, global diversification and comparatively lower valuation risks.

How Does Zacks Consensus Estimate Compare for COCO & KO?Coca-Cola’s EPS estimates for 2026 have been unchanged in the past 30 days, while the consensus mark for 2027 moved down by a penny in the past seven days. KO’s 2026 revenues and EPS are expected to increase 3% and 8.7% year over year, respectively.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Vita Coco’s EPS estimates for 2026 and 2027 have moved up 0.6% and 1%, respectively, in the past seven days. COCO’s 2026 revenues and EPS are projected to increase 22.3% and 48.7% year over year, respectively.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

COCO vs. KO: Which Has the Edge?Both Coca-Cola and Vita Coco are positioned to benefit from sustained beverage demand. Coca-Cola offers unmatched scale, portfolio diversity and dependable cash generation, making it suitable for stability-focused investors. However, Vita Coco wins this face-off on growth. Its stronger recent share-price performance, expanding coconut water leadership, and robust revenue and earnings outlook support greater upside potential. Upward revisions to Vita Coco’s earnings estimates indicate improving analyst confidence in its future profitability.

Although its premium valuation increases execution risks, the company’s category momentum, international expansion and positive estimate trends make COCO the more promising investment choice at present.

KO currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), whereas Vita Coco carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

One of Wall Street’s most dependable income stocks has quietly become a market outperformer trading close to a record high.

Its dividend yield is roughly twice that of the broader market, while its payout has increased every year for more than six decades.

The company is Coca-Cola NYSE:KO. Investors have embraced its defensive demand, pricing power and dependable cash returns during an uncertain economic period.

Yet after the shares closed at $82.45 on Wednesday, only 3.8% below their July 7 record, even bullish analysts are divided over how much upside remains.

A 64-year payout streak is only part of the storyCoca-Cola raised its quarterly dividend by about 4% in February, from 51 cents to 53 cents per share.

That marked its 64th consecutive annual increase and lifted the annualised payout to $2.12. At Wednesday’s close, the shares yielded about 2.6%.

The attraction extends beyond income. First-quarter net revenue increased 12% to $12.5 billion, organic revenue advanced 10% and global unit-case volume rose 3%.

Those figures suggest the dividend is being supported by continuing business growth rather than borrowing or financial engineering.

Coca-Cola also enjoys structural advantages few consumer companies can match.

Its brands have global recognition, management can adjust prices and package sizes across markets, and independent bottlers handle much of the capital-intensive production and distribution.

That asset-light structure helps explain why investors have favoured the company during economic uncertainty.

Consumers may postpone expensive purchases, but relatively inexpensive drinks remain accessible, giving Coca-Cola a defensive quality that many cyclical businesses lack.

Citigroup analyst Filippo Falorni delivered the most aggressive recent call on July 14, raising his Coca-Cola price target to $97 from $91 while retaining a Buy rating.

The target implies that Citi believes resilient earnings and brand momentum can justify a further valuation premium.

JPMorgan analyst Andrea Faria Teixeira is also positive, but more measured. She raised her target to $90 from $85 on July 10 and maintained an Overweight rating.

Bank of America analyst Peter Galbo has maintained a Buy rating and a $95 target.

The bank sees the FIFA World Cup as a useful near-term catalyst because the tournament creates repeated beverage-consumption occasions across homes, bars and restaurants, while giving Coca-Cola an unusually broad global marketing platform.

The tournament may support volumes and brand visibility, but it is temporary.

The longer-term case still depends on Coca-Cola protecting demand as consumers become more selective and input costs remain unpredictable.

Coca-Cola now trades at nearly 26 times trailing earnings, a demanding multiple for a mature consumer-staples company.

Its Wednesday's close was also only a few dollars below the record $85.68 reached earlier this month.

Bernstein SocGen provides the clearest cautious counterpoint.

The firm cut its target to $83 from $84 and kept a Market Perform rating, citing an uneven consumer environment, affordability spending, Mexican tax pressures and the possibility that elevated aluminium costs could weigh on bottlers in 2027 and 2028.

The broader analyst picture reinforces that tension.

Twenty-five analysts tracked by Stock Analysis carry an average target of $86.85, implying only about 5% upside, despite an overall Buy consensus.

Coca-Cola reports second-quarter results on July 28. Investors will watch organic sales, volumes, North American demand, commodity costs and World Cup-related commentary.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Board of Directors of The Coca-Cola Company today announced the election of a new company officer and the approval of the company's regular quarterly dividend.Max Hyldebrandt, who began a new role June 4 as Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Development, was elected as an officer of the company. He reports to President and Chief Financial Officer John Murphy.Hyldebrandt leads the company's work in mergers and acquisitions, strategic investments, partnerships,.

Coca-Cola (KO 1.39%) stock is a top pick for dividends, but it rarely beats the market. Historically, it tends to outperform when the market is down, since it's a classic "safe stock." But its low, steady growth and reliability are less prized in strong bull markets, and over time, it's an underperformer.

However, it's having a blowout 2026. Not only is the stock beating the market this year, up 22% versus 11% for the S&P 500, but it's also beating top growth stocks including Nvidia and Amazon. That's because its prized features matter today, too.

It's Warren Buffett's favorite Warren Buffett has praised Coca-Cola many times as an example of a great business, and it was the stock he was talking about when he said his favorite holding period is "forever." The reasons he loves it so much are the reasons I think the market is also loving it right now.

Image source: Getty Images.

He loves Coke's place in the economy, its global brand that travels, and its relationship with fans, which is a moat that's not easily torn down. That's well illustrated by the famous business case of when it introduced New Coke based on taste tests, which was a thorough failure because it didn't take into account users' emotional connection to the classic formula. Coca-Cola won't be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI), and people will always need to drink.

He also loves its dividend. Coca-Cola is a Dividend King, which means that it has raised its dividend for at least 50 years consecutively, and it has one of the longest track records, having raised its dividend for the past 64 years straight. It tends to have a high yield, but since the stock is soaring, the yield is down to 2.5% at the current price.

Why it matters now These are features that fortify it under adverse circumstances, which is why it's considered safe. And that's why investors are likely buying it today.

Despite what it might look like from the thriving market, the economy is in a challenging place. Inflation is still raging, and steady interest rates might eventually put a dent in the economy. The ceasefire with Iran seems to be over, and oil prices are already heading higher again.

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Despite all of that, the S&P 500 keeps climbing higher. There are two major streams of thought about why: Either investors are having a break with reality, or there's immense confidence in AI being reality.

Either way, Coca-Cola stock provides the security investors need when there's volatility. It's demonstrating healthy growth despite economic headwinds, and the company has a long growth runway as it continues to make inroads into developing regions. And it can continue to do so in the age of AI, using AI to its advantage to identify specific opportunities and act on them. That makes it a fantastic component of a defensive portfolio.

Other than PepsiCo's food business, both beverage giants are comparable to one another. Berkshire Hathaway's ownership of Coca-Cola may keep it top of mind for investors.

Key Takeaways FirstEnergy offers a 0.47 beta, 3.88% dividend yield and improved current-year earnings estimate.Ameren has a 0.47 beta, serves electric and natural gas customers, and saw earnings estimates improve.KO and NYT combine low-beta profiles with improving earnings estimates and expected earnings growth. Geopolitical tensions escalated over the weekend, as the United States and Iran carried out missile strikes on each other. Within hours, energy prices surged as fears grew that the conflict could escalate further.

A surge in global oil prices after the initial U.S.-Iran conflict in late February pushed inflation higher, with the Federal Reserve contemplating a rate hike by the end of this year. The Wall Street rally has time and again been interrupted by volatility this year, as fears of a rate hike, triggered by high inflation, global tensions and the recent tech sell-off, have been denting investors’ confidence.

Given this scenario, we recommend buying four defensive stocks from the utility and consumer staples sectors, namely, FirstEnergy Corp. (FE - Free Report) , Ameren Corporation (AEE - Free Report) , The Coca-Cola Company (KO - Free Report) and The New York Times Company (NYT - Free Report) .

These stocks are also from the low-beta category (beta greater than 0 but less than 1). Hence, the recommended approach is to invest in low-beta stocks with a high dividend yield and a favorable Zacks Rank.

Geopolitical Tensions Escalate AgainThe United States and Iran fired a barrage of missiles at each other in the Middle East as tensions escalated over the weekend. The renewed tensions come after President Donald Trump last week said that he is no longer interested in negotiations.

Oil prices jumped more than 3% over the weekend following the attacks, as fears grew that the Strait of Hormuz could again be blocked, which could disrupt oil supply from the Middle East.

Energy prices had eased substantially over the past month after the United States and Iran signed a temporary memorandum of understanding in mid-June. Oil prices had surged nearly 40% after the war began in late February.

The surge saw inflation jump unexpectedly since then. The Consumer Price Index, an important gauge for measuring the prices of goods and services across the economy, rose 0.5% month over month in May after jumping 0.6% in April, and 4.2% from the year-ago levels. 

This has made the Federal Reserve’s job difficult. However, the central bank left interest rates unchanged in its last meeting in the current range of 3.5-3.75%. The minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest FOMC meeting show that officials are still divided over an interest rate hike, as some believe that inflation could ease after the hostilities ended with the signing of the memorandum of understanding.

However, the Federal Reserve could once again contemplate a rate hike if inflation remains high following the renewed tensions in the Middle East.

Markets have already been volatile over the past month due to a massive tech sell-off, which is being triggered by concerns over the sustainability of AI-related stocks. This has been denting investors’ confidence and could keep markets volatile for a longer period.

4 Defensive Stocks With Growth PotentialFirstEnergy CorpFirstEnergy Corp. is a diversified energy company. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, FE engages in the transmission, distribution and generation of electricity.

FirstEnergy Corp’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 5.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 0.4% over the past 60 days. FE currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. FirstEnergy Corp has a beta of 0.47 and a current dividend yield of 3.88%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Ameren CorporationAmeren Corporation is a utility company that generates and distributes electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial and wholesale end markets in Missouri and Illinois. AEE serves nearly 2.4 million electric and more than 900,000 natural gas customers.

Ameren Corporation’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings improved 0.4% over the past 60 days. AEE currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. Ameren Corporation has a beta of 0.47 and a current dividend yield of 2.66%.

The Coca-Cola CompanyThe Coca-Cola Company’s strong brand equity, marketing, research and innovation help it to garner a market share of more than 40% in the non-alcoholic beverage industry. KO is putting its best foot forward to evolve its business model to become a total beverage company with something for everyone to drink. The Coca-Cola Company has coped with the industry-wide flattening of soda sales over the years by going on a buying spree and making investments in healthier alternatives like coffee, sparkling water and sports drinks.

The Coca-Cola Company has an expected earnings growth rate of 8.7% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.9% over the past 60 days. The Coca-Cola Company has a Zacks Rank #2. KO has a beta of 0.34 and a current dividend yield of 2.54%.

The New York Times CompanyThe New York Times Company is a leading global media organization focused on delivering high-quality journalism and information. Founded in 1851 and incorporated in 1896, NYT has evolved from a traditional newspaper publisher into a diversified digital-first media company with a strong global subscriber base and a growing portfolio of lifestyle and entertainment products. 

The New York Times Companyhas an expected earnings growth rate of 19.1% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.7% over the last 60 days. NYT has a beta of 0.96 and a current dividend yield of 1.23%.

Coca-Cola (KO +1.05%) is the classic dividend stock. It typically has a high yield, it's as dependable as they come, and it has raised its dividend annually for the past 64 years. Here's how much money you would get annually if you'd invest $10,000 in Coca-Cola stock.

Coca-Cola is a Dividend King, meaning it has annually raised its dividend for more than 50 consecutive years. It's an exclusive status that implies reliability, which is an important feature for people who depend on passive income, like retirees.

The stock yields 2.5% at the current price, which is quite low for Coke stock; historically, it tends to yield around 3%. But the market is loving Coca-Cola stock right now, and it's up almost 20% this year, or about double the S&P 500's gain.

At today's price, $10,000 invested in Coke stock gives you 121 shares, and the company pays $0.53 quarterly since its latest raise. That comes to $256 annually. It may not seem like much, but there are a few things to keep in mind. Notably, since the stock is soaring, a $10,000 investment at the beginning of the year is worth $11,820 right now.

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On top of that, the dividend likely will be raised again next February. So $256 this year will increase next year, and every year after.

On its own, that wouldn't be something a retiree can live off, but it can be a healthy part of a diversified portfolio focused on passive income.

Jennifer Saibil has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

On July 10, 2026, Coca-Cola Co KO shares rose 1.0% to a current price of $83.49. The stock is trading within a 52-week range of $65.35 to $85.68, reflecting a year-to-date increase of 21.0% and a one-year gain of 23.1%.

GF Value™ verdict: Current price is $83.49 vs GF Value™ of $70.28, indicating the stock is 18.8% overvalued.GF Score™ of 79/100, suggesting it is rated as Above Average.Most notable signal: Insiders sold $79.9M worth of shares in the last 3 months, with no buying activity reported. Is KO Overvalued or Undervalued? The current price of Coca-Cola Co KO shares at $83.49 stands significantly above the GF Value™ estimate of $70.28, marking the stock as 18.8% overvalued. According to the GF Valuation label, this indicates that the stock is considered Modestly Overvalued. Investors should be cautious, as being overvalued suggests a risk of price correction or stagnation. The margin of safety appears limited, and potential investors may want to evaluate the stock against intrinsic value more critically.

GF Value™ is GuruFocus' proprietary measure of intrinsic value, calculated from historical trading multiples, past business growth, and future performance estimates. Given the current valuation, it would be prudent for those considering an investment in KO to weigh the associated risks against their investment objectives.

How Does KO's Valuation Compare to Its History? Metric Current Historical P/E (TTM) 26.2x 26.3x Forward P/E 25.5x N/A The current P/E (TTM) of 26.2x is virtually unchanged from its 5-year median P/E of 26.3x, indicating that the stock is trading at a valuation level consistent with its historical range. This P/E analysis aligns with the GF Value™ verdict of being overvalued, as the stock does not present a compelling case for investment relative to its historical valuation metrics.

What Does KO's GF Score™ Tell Us? Metric Rating GF Score™ 79/100 Financial Strength 6/10 Profitability 8/10 Growth 5/10 Valuation 6/10 Momentum 6/10 The GF Score™ of 79/100 suggests that Coca-Cola Co KO is positioned above average in terms of potential long-term returns. The strongest aspect of KO's profile is its Profitability rank of 8/10, indicating solid profit margins and operational efficiency. However, the weakest area is the Growth rank of 5/10, suggesting that while the company is profitable, its growth may not be as robust compared to others in the market. Overall, the mixed scores illustrate a stable but cautious investment outlook.

What Are Insiders Doing with KO Stock? Insider activity for Coca-Cola Co KO shows that insiders sold a substantial $79.9 million worth of shares over the past three months, with no reported buying activity. This trend can often signal a lack of confidence in the stock's near-term prospects or a belief that the shares are currently overvalued. While insider selling does not always indicate negative sentiment, it is a noteworthy consideration for investors looking at the stock's future performance.

What This Means for Investors Based on the GF Value™ assessment, Coca-Cola Co KO is currently overvalued, with the stock trading 18.8% above its estimated fair value. This situation warrants careful consideration from potential investors, particularly in light of recent insider selling and the overall market conditions. A thorough analysis of the company's fundamentals and market position is recommended before making investment decisions.

For the complete analysis, visit the Coca-Cola Co KO stock page. You can also explore the GF Value™ page for detailed valuation methodology, or use the GuruFocus Stock Screener to find similar opportunities.

Frequently Asked Questions What is KO's GF Score™?

KO's GF Score™ is 79/100, indicating an above-average potential for long-term returns based on various financial metrics.

Is KO overvalued or undervalued?

KO is currently overvalued, as its market price of $83.49 exceeds the GF Value™ estimate of $70.28 by 18.8%.

What is KO's P/E ratio?

KO's P/E (TTM) ratio is 26.2x, which is in line with its 5-year median P/E of 26.3x, supporting the view that the stock is overvalued according to GF Value™.

This stock alert was generated using automated technology and GuruFocus financial data to provide readers with timely and accurate market reporting. This content was reviewed by GuruFocus editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

It's been a great year for Coca-Cola (KO +0.65%) investors. As of market close on July 9, the stock is up 18.2% year-to-date (YTD) -- outperforming the Nasdaq-100 and S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.18%), while its peer, PepsiCo, is down 4% YTD.

Coke reached a new all-time intraday high of $85.68 on July 7. With the stock up over 50% in the last five years, some investors may be wondering if Coke is well on its way to surpassing $100 a share and issuing a stock split.

Here's what's driving Coke to new highs, if a stock split could be in the cards in 2026, and if the blue chip dividend stock is a buy now.

Image source: Getty Images.

Coke is successfully navigating an industrywide slowdown While Coke's full-year 2026 organic revenue guidance of 4% to 5% may not sound like much, it's exceptional relative to Coke's peers.

Higher oil prices in the first half of 2026 added even more inflationary pressure on already strained consumers. What's more, consumer preferences are changing as health and wellness trends impact snacking and soda demand. Competition from private-label brands is yet another challenge for name-brand companies.

KO data by YCharts

Yet despite all of these factors, Coke continues to maintain sky-high margins, steadily grow revenue, and generate gobs of free cash flow, providing a clear runway for dividend growth to extend its 64-year streak of dividend increases.

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Earnings growth must bridge the gap to $100 per share Coke's stock price has been rising due to a combination of earnings growth and a valuation expansion. As investor confidence in Coke has improved, its stock price has risen faster than earnings, bringing its valuation closer to its long-term average.

KO PE Ratio data by YCharts

Coke can still reach $100 per share, but it may depend more on earnings growth going forward than on an expanding multiple. Still, it's worth noting that Coke is already above its split-adjusted price from its last split.

In late July 2012, Coke issued a 2-for-1 stock split, taking its stock price from around $80 to $40 and doubling the share count. Similarly, Coke issued a 2-for-1 stock split at around $82 per share ($20.50 split-adjusted) in May 1996. At $82.62 per share at the time of this writing, Coke is hovering right around the magic number that has signaled past stock splits. But a lot has changed since Coke's last stock split.

A stock split could trigger Coke's deletion from the Dow Most modern-day S&P 500 company stock splits occur when a share price is in the mid to high triple digits or even over $1,000 per share. Coke is nowhere close to that range. More importantly, the median price of the average stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI +0.12%) is far higher than it used to be.

Coke has been in the Dow since 1987. Back then, consumer goods, industrial, materials, and utility stocks dominated the index.

Today, the Dow is much more tech-focused. Just last month, Alphabet replaced Verizon Communications in the Dow. In a press release, S&P Dow Jones Indices specifically cited Verizon's lower share price as a reason for its removal from the index, noting that Verizon accounted for just 1/2 of 1% of the index. If the index were equally weighted, each component would account for 3.3%, underscoring just how little Verizon moved the needle. But because the Dow is price-weighted, a stock's price, rather than its market cap, determines its weight in the index. So stock splits heavily impact the index weights.

With Verizon out of the Dow, Coke is now the second-lowest-weighted component behind Nike (NKE +2.06%) -- with Coke making up just 0.9% of the index. And with Nike's turnaround progressing far slower than expected, it is at serious risk of being kicked out of the Dow and replaced by a stock like Meta Platforms.

The Dow was around 13,000 when Coke last split its stock in July 2012. Since then, Coke has more than doubled, but the index has quadrupled. With Coke underperforming the Dow since its last split and being one of the lowest-weighted companies, it remains highly unlikely it will issue a stock split, even though It is hovering near a price level seen before its previous two splits.

A foundational blue chip dividend stock to buy now While a stock split would make it easier for investors to buy a full share of Coca-Cola, they don't need to let speculation about a split dictate their investment decisions. In fact, research by The Motley Fool shows that stock splits have yielded mixed results.

Split or no split, Coca-Cola stands out as one of the most reliable dividend-paying companies for investors to build a portfolio around. What the company lacks in breakneck earnings growth, it makes up for with dependability. Coke can continue supporting divined raises with cash even during industrywide downturns. Its 2.5% yield is right around the average for consumer staples stocks, but Coke's payout is of far higher quality than the average.

Add it all up, and Coke is a solid buy for investors who prioritize dividend quality and passive income.