Coca-Cola's retained earnings do little for shareholders when management does not distribute much of the growth. At 27 times earnings, a 2.3% yield with no expected large dividend hikes, special dividend or meaningful buybacks makes look-through earnings a poor basis for the price: EPS rose about $1 in five years while dividends rose only 52 cents. x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com 

Coca-Cola looks like a short at about 25x forward earnings for a business growing revenue slower than nominal GDP. All of its recent earnings growth has come from cost efficiencies, and it should face huge headwinds from the appetite-suppressing drugs people are taking to stop eating. x.com 

Coca-Cola's business is healthy, but its headline quarter overstates it, so the stance is bullish-neutral. Global volume rose 5%, free cash flow hit $6.9B year to date, and the dividend is covered at about 72% of free cash flow. But EPS grew 16% while currency-neutral comparable EPS grew 9%, underlying margin expansion was 24bp rather than about 90, and Asia Pacific price/mix fell 9% to defend shelf space. The raised 9-10% EPS growth guide includes about 3 points of currency tailwind. x.com 

PepsiCo's forecast for another year of just 3% growth leaves it nowhere close to cheap. It trades at 16 times 2027 earnings. x.com 

Coca-Cola's forward revenue growth numbers are pitiful, yet the stock trades at 26x next-twelve-month EPS, which makes no sense. x.com 

Qualcomm, Johnson & Johnson, Wendy's, IBM, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Caterpillar are steady dividend payers that pay investors to wait, in keeping with Warren Buffett's rule never to lose money. Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have raised their dividends for decades. Qualcomm licenses wireless patents nearly every phone maker pays for, IBM leads in quantum computing research, and Caterpillar is a growing supplier of power generation for data centers. x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com  … Show more

Coca-Cola's valuation is no longer compelling despite strong operational execution. Shares trade at about 26.7 times earnings versus a historical average of 22.3, so much of the near-term optimism is priced in. Continued earnings growth can support the premium, but the margin of safety is considerably smaller. x.com 

PepsiCo is under pressure because consumers can no longer really afford a can of soda, as the company cut its profit outlook citing a slower North American recovery. The stock is approaching its monthly 200-period moving average, a secular bear-market line that breaks only during economic depressions. If it breaks, $75 is the next level. x.com 

Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, JPMorgan Chase and UnitedHealth are stocks worth holding forever. They aren't the flashiest names and won't deliver the best returns, but they offer consistency and can be counted on to keep growing for decades. x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com 

Coca-Cola's safe-haven premium has gone too far. It trades at more than double Ferrari's price-to-free-cash-flow multiple while having the same EBITDA margins and nearly half the expected growth rate. x.com