Coca-Cola's new CEO can boast about something that 'Magnificent 7' members Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg can't

Coca-Cola's new CEO can boast about something that 'Magnificent 7' members Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg can't

Brian Sozzi · Executive Editor

Tue, August 25, 2026 at 3:24 PM GMT+3 2 min read

It has been a good start to the CEO reign of Coca-Cola's (KO) Henrique Braun, a company lifer who took over the corner office in March.

Shares of the beverage giant are trading at a record high, up 32% year to date alone. What's more, Coca-Cola shares — often thought of as a boring investment because, hey, they sell soda and juice — have outperformed every member of the "Magnificent Seven" tech complex this year, per Yahoo Finance AlphaSpace data.

While Coke's stock has bubbled up, Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta (META) is down by 15%, and Elon Musk's Tesla (TSLA) is off by 22% (the latter being the worst-performing Magnificent Seven member in 2026).

Score one for the expense-watching middle managers at Coke — a completely different approach than the likes of Meta (aggressively building massive AI data centers) and Tesla (aggressively building robots and robotaxis).

The investment thesis at Coke has been a classic case of an old-school consumer-products business being reinvented, with a heavy dose of cost cuts and safe-haven appeal in an uncertain world.

Coca-Cola posted a solid second quarter, delivering $13.4 billion in net revenue (up 7% year-over-year) and a 16% jump in earnings per share to $1.03.

The outperformance was fueled by a 6% increase in organic revenue and a 5% increase in global unit case volume, driven by high-margin products like Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and by key international growth markets.

(KO )

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91.99 +0.89 (+0.98%)

At close: August 24 at 4:00:02 PM EDT

Pricing power, operational efficiencies, and favorable currency tailwinds allowed the company to expand its comparable operating margins and raise its full-year earnings guidance.

Furthermore, investors have bid up shares as a premier defensive haven, seeking Coca-Cola's reliable cash flow and dividend stability amid recent market volatility and fluctuating bond yields.

"KO continues to demonstrate why it's the leading large cap global beverage company and deserves a relative valuation ahead of recent history," Evercore ISI analyst Robert Ottenstein wrote in a note. "We believe it is a must own name for long-term income-oriented investors looking for the potential to compound returns at ~10% rate."

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor, host of the 'Power Players With Brian Sozzi' podcast and a member of Yahoo Finance's editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.

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