The Coca-Cola Company (KO) Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference (CAGNY) 2026 summary

Enduring strengths and expanding horizons

• Maintains a strong, diversified brand portfolio with 32 billion-dollar brands, 75% of which are non-sparkling, and leads in sparkling flavors, juice, water, sports, and RTD tea, with opportunities in coffee and alcohol RTD.

• Achieved a milestone of $3 EPS, with comparable EPS rising from $1.92 in 2017 to $3.00 in 2025, reflecting sustainable top and bottom-line growth.

• Built a robust global system with ~33M customer outlets, 20 major bottlers, and $8B in 2025 system CAPEX, leveraging scale and alignment for growth.

• System restructuring and refranchising since 2015 unlocked over 50% of market value and increased total system market cap by $225B.

• Achieved #1 position in customer value creation from 2017-2025, serving 2.2B servings per day.

Strategic principles and durable strategy for future growth

• Emphasizes consumer centricity, transforming marketing and innovation, and optimizing the ecosystem through insights, innovation, intimacy, and integration.

• Focuses on digital transformation, with $2.5B in digital spend and ~4M customer outlets using loyalty programs by 2025, amplifying strengths and driving agility and scale.

• Implements Must Win Missions for each market, aligning incentives and investment for accelerated growth.

• Continues disciplined innovation, reducing brands from over 400 to less than 170, increasing success rates.

• Prioritizes people and leadership, empowering teams and building talent and capabilities for the next growth phase.

Financial performance, continuity, and transformation

• Delivered consistent topline growth, with 7-8% organic revenue and 5-6% comparable EPS growth targeted for 2026.

• Outperformed CPG peers in organic revenue growth, margin expansion, and free cash flow generation since 2017.

• Generated over $80B in free cash flow since 2017, with ROIC nearly double CPG peers and projected to reach 23% in 2025.

• Improved free cash flow to ~$12.2B projected for 2026, with a 90-95% adjusted free cash flow conversion ratio.

• Maintains a fit-for-purpose balance sheet, expanding debt capacity and supporting growth and uncertainty.