Comparative Analysis Case the Coca-Cola Company and Pepsico, Inc.

The analysis of a company's financial statements helps in the determination of both the weaknesses and strengths of the concerned entity. Further, such an analysis helps in the determination of the future viability of firms. There are a wide range of techniques utilized in the analysis of financial statements. In that regard, it is important to note that the relevance of a horizontal, vertical as well as ratio analysis of a company's financial statements cannot be overstated. This is more so the case when it comes to the interpretation of the various dollar amounts presented in both the balance sheet and the income statement. In this text, I carry out a horizontal, vertical as well as ratio analysis of both The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo, Inc. The analysis' results will be critical in the evaluation of each company's performance. Findings will be used as a basis for recommendations on how each company can improve its financial status.

What I find to be the biggest indicator of concern is that PepsiCo’s profitability is currently declining, despite its ever-increasing sales figures. It has lost 2% on both its profit margin, and return on assets. The return on common stockholder’s equity, has dipped by 4%, and they lost $.02 over every dollar invested in assets in 2005. This goes back to my assessment of their sales and net income figures. Here again, I see indications that their spending has increased dramatically, which is having a negative impact on profitability. Since the soft drink industry is a high-volume, low-overhead industry, controlling and minimizing expenses is of paramount importance. I find this trend to be very troubling, considering PepsiCo’s sales haven’t stopped climbing, yet they are starting to lose their profitability. Should their sales dip, they will be very hard put to maintain themselves.

Another interesting trend which demonstrates growth is the rise in interest income and other expenses from 0.07% of sales in 1997 to 0.13% in 2001 on the income sheet. Typically, this value fluctuates each year with the amount of cash a company keeps on hand. Costco’s increase suggests that the company either increased its amount of short-term deposit investments’ held, switched its funds to money market funds, savings accounts, or CDs with higher yielding interest rates, or their existing funds experienced a growth in interest rates.

Based on information given, we established the free cash flows from operations for Torrington, for the period 1999 to 2007. We made the assumption that net working capital was 7% of sales for Torrington, based on historic patterns. From this assumption, we found “Change in Net Working Capital” for the selected years. Next, we chose a value for “Capital Expenditures”, again based on historic patterns. From this we computed the “Free Cash Flows to the Firm”.

The Coca-Cola Company is a beverage company which owns more than 500 nonalcoholic brands. Its product is known by customers all over the world. The company has market capitalization of $185.88 billion (Google finance, Oct 2015). In addition to equity capital, the company also issues corporate bonds to finance its operation. Both stocks and bonds of the company is traded in The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). To calculate WACC of The Coca-Cola Company, we need to obtain some information about its debt

An eyeball assessment of the changes in Coke’s financial statements between 1996 and 2010 show that mainly all accounts are up. The total assets are up from 1996 to 2010 with an increase from $16,161 to $72,921. Also current assets increased 3.6% from 1996 to 2010 with total non-current assets increasing 5%. Revenue nearly doubled from 1996 having only $18,546 to increasing in 2010 to $35,119. The total current liabilities increased over the years from $7,406 to $18,508. The total long term liabilities also show an increase from 1996 having $2,599 to $23,410 in 2010. Also the

The political situation of a country affects its economic settings and economic environment affect the business performances. Coca-Cola sales are impacted by a set of economic factors that beyond are beyond the company’s control. These factors include the level of economic growth in the country and in the industry, tax rates and currency exchange rates, interest rates, labor costs and others. The global economic and financial crisis of 2007 – 2009 is a relevant example of an economic factor that greatly impacted the majority of businesses around the globe. However, the crisis has impacted Coca-Cola to a lesser extent compared to many other businesses. Its’ operating margin remained at industry-front 22% despite the crisis, although dividend yield was reduced to 2.6 % Quarts. (Timmons, H. (2014). Economic factors relate to goods, services, and money. Despite directly affecting businesses, these variables refer to financial state of the economy on a greater level –whether it be local or global, inflation increases cost of production. Consequently, Coca-Cola had to face the uncontrollable problem of increasing their pricing. With this increase they risk losing customers who cannot afford their products because it is a desired product not a necessity. Due to inflation in 11 years the price of an identical bottle of Coca Cola has doubled in price. Alternatively, Coca Cola could be forced to lower their prices to facilitate an increase in consumption

As we all go about our day, we rush to place to place. Around us there are things for sale, people everywhere trying to make money. As we are rushing around, we all tend to get thirsty as we have a thousand things going on. In America we have dozens of choices when it comes to soft drinks, although the two most widely known are Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Many are often stuck between choosing Coke or Pepsi; even though they are slightly different in appearance, taste, and price it makes a world of difference to the customer.

Also, according to its leverage ratios, the company’s debts are not only very high, but are also increasing. Its decreasing TIE ratio indicates that its capability to pay interests is decreasing. The company’s efficiency ratios indicate that despite the fact that its fixed assets are increasingly being utilized to generate sales during the years 1990-1991 as indicated by its increasing fixed asset turnover ratio, the decreasing total assets turnover indicate that overall the company’s total assets are not efficiently being put to use. Thus, as a whole its asset management is becoming less efficient. Last but not the least, based on its profitability ratios, the company’s ability to make profit is decreasing.

Coca-Cola is a leading beverage industry in the United States and many other countries in the world. PepsiCo is also a leading worldwide beverage company, but they are also the parent company of the Frito-Lay and Quaker Oats Companies. This makes PepsiCo a leader in the beverage, snack and cereal industries. As consumers, we have indulged in their products for many years. My personal preference has always been Pepsi over Coke, which is why I was very interested in conducting this analysis. Regardless of the results, I will always seek out a Diet Pepsi over a Diet Coke and so will many of my physician friends at Children’s Hospital who start their mornings with a Diet Pepsi. These personal preferences are what contributes to a company’s profits through net sales. However, the key performance measurement tools used are not based on sales alone. Calculating liquidity, solvency, and profitability ratios on a regular basis give us a better insight on the performance and overall health of a company.

One of the strengths that can be found in PepsiCo is in term of strong brand equity. PepsiCo has a strong brand name in the world place and the company is well-known worldwide. This company is the best global brand in the world in terms of value of net revenue $43,251 million in the year of 2008. The company has a very recognized and

Comparing financial data from statements can help determine whether or not it is a sound decision to invest in a company. This information can also help determine if a company is operating successfully and areas of risk within the company. This analyzing can help one company compare itself to another company and ensure that they are able to compete with other companies in their respective industries. PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are two major companies that make a majority of their money from producing and selling soft drinks. To compare these companies we are going to use vertical and horizontal analyses to see if these

The history of Coca Cola began in 1886 when Dr. John S Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist created a tasty soft drink which could sell at soda fountains. Since then, Coca Cola grew to be a global brand and touched great heights. Today, it sells across 200 countries and is just as popular across all the markets and nations. The company today, owns or licenses and markets more than 500 non alcoholic beverage brands. The brand has only few major competitors in the global market. The daily servings of coca cola are estimated to be at 1.9 billion globally. (Coca-Colahellenic, n.d.) This is just another proof of the popularity of the brand which has a very large and diversified

PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are fierce competitors and according to their financial statements they are both healthy companies. Therefore I would invest in Coca-Cola if I had to make the decision because it has higher income, a stronger long-term debt to networking capital ratio, steadily rising net income per common share, and a climbing and high solvency ratio. PepsiCo still shows healthy growth and outperforms Coca-Cola in many areas. I will conduct a financial analysis of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo to identify their strengths and weaknesses, ultimately deciding which one is worth the investment.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In investigating PepsiCo’s accounting policies for G. D. Meyers and Company, we have focused on nine major areas of the annual report, comparing PepsiCo with Coca Cola throughout our analysis. Through the Balance Sheet, we focused on the major assets and major liabilities of each, and discovered that the primary difference is PepsiCo’s large balance of intangibles. In the Income Statement, we analyzed the major sources of revenue and expenses for