Coca-Cola Leaves Pepsi in the Dust with Stunning Q2 Results
Coca-Cola has significantly outperformed PepsiCo over the past five years, returning 84.09% compared to Pepsi's 3.08%. In Q2 2026, Coca-Cola reported a revenue of $13.38 billion and an operating margin of 34.9%, while PepsiCo's North America snacks revenue fell 2% and its beverage margins dropped 90 basis points due to higher gas prices affecting impulse channels.
Coca-Cola's strong performance is attributed to its concentrate-and-franchise model, which has a lower cost load compared to PepsiCo's business structure. The company's Q2 gross margin was 61.6%, while PepsiCo's was 54.1%. Coca-Cola Zero Sugar volume grew 16% globally, and the company raised its FY26 comparable EPS growth guidance to 9-10%.
PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta attributed the decline in North America sales to a weak U.S. consumer, higher gas prices, and delayed price investments due to commercial issues. The company's core operating margin contracted 40 bps company-wide.