KO vs SBUX: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of The Coca-Cola Company and Starbucks Corporation — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-05-04.
The Coca-Cola Company · Consumer Defensive
$78.19
-7.8% upside to fair value
Grade D
High Quality
VS
Starbucks Corporation · Consumer Cyclical
$96.60
+19.0% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B+
QuantHub Verdict
SBUX has more upside to fair value
(+19.0%).
KO trades at a lower forward P/E
(24.6x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
KO |
SBUX |
| Current Price |
$78.19 |
$96.60 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$72.12 |
$115.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
-7.8%
|
+19.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$336.5B |
$110.1B |
| Forward P/E |
24.6x
|
42.2x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
19.9x
|
22.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
6.8x
|
3.0x
|
| Price / FCF |
26.8x
|
45.1x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+12.1%
|
+2.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
61.7%
|
24.2%
|
| Operating Margin |
29.3%
|
9.6%
|
| Return on Equity |
43.6%
|
-22.9%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
2.55% |
| FCF Yield |
3.73%
|
2.2%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Hold
|
Investment Thesis
The Coca-Cola Company is a leading global beverage company specializing in non-alcoholic drinks with a diversified portfolio including sparkling soft drinks, juices, water, coffee, and energy beverages. The business quality is high due to its durable brand moat, consistent earnings growth, and strong operational efficiency, reflected in a 43.6% return on equity and 12.1% revenue growth in the mos…
Starbucks is the world's largest specialty coffee retailer with over 39,000 stores across 86 markets, generating $37.2B in annual revenue. Under CEO Brian Niccol, now 19 months into his tenure after joining from Chipotle in September 2024, the company is executing the Back to Starbucks operational turnaround focused on service speed, menu simplification, and store experience reinvention. At P/S 2…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
KO |
SBUX |
| Zone Low |
$54.09 |
$88.00 |
| Zone High |
$61.30 |
$98.00 |
| In Buy Zone? |
No
|
Yes
|