Coke crushes rival Pepsi on Wall Street as pricey snacks sink stock

Coca-Cola is pounding Pepsi on Wall Street, riding a lean beverage strategy to near-record highs while its bloated rival chokes on a slumping snack business.Coke shares are nearly the highest ever since the Atlanta-based drinks giant entered the stock market over a century ago.Meanwhile, PepsiCo’s stock has tumbled nearly 30% since peaking just below $200 in 2023.Pepsi reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings on Thursday, but the results failed to reassure investors as sales dropped in its core North American beverage division, Barron’s noted.The company posted a 6.4% increase in overall net revenue to $24.2 billion, with North American beverage sales accounting for $7.2 billion of the total.After years of rivalry featuring “Pepsi challenges,” ill-fated experiments like “New Coke” and relentless ad campaigns, Coke was widely seen as coming out on top some years ago.

Investors are seconding that opinion, pointing to disparate financials.The financial gap between the competitors is most evident in their profitability.Coca-Cola reported a 35% operating margin in the first quarter, up from about 33% a year earlier.

PepsiCo’s operating margin hovered around 16.5% for the first half of the year, less than half of its rival’s.“It’s becoming more obvious to the investor base that Coke has a superior business model,” Nik Modi, co-head of global consumer research at RBC Capital Markets, told Barron’sPepsiCo’s challenges stem primarily from its snack division and its approach to bottling operations.Packaged foods and snacks, including Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, generated 58% of PepsiCo’s revenue in 2025.But aggressive price increases implemented during the COVID pandemic have hurt demand.

Consumers have increasingly traded down to cheaper store brands to slash their grocery budgets.In North America, snack food revenue fell 2% in the second quarter compared with a year ago, and unit sales remained flat.PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta at...