Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTInsider Monkey TeamWed, August 5, 2026 at 9:04 PM GMT+2 4 min readWarren Buffett once said his favorite holding period is "forever," and he was probably talking about Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) when he said it. Nearly four decades later, Coca-Cola is still one of Berkshire Hathaway's longest-held stock, and new CEO Greg Abel kept it even while trimming other positions from the portfolio. That kind of loyalty usually means a stock has earned it, and Coca-Cola's second quarter gave shareholders fresh reasons to agree.Coca-Cola (KO) Reports 2025 Net Revenue of $47.9B, Full-Year EPS of $3.04 ivan-borinschi-uh2Mw7S-OPo-unsplashNumbers That Back Up The LoyaltyThe quarter itself was clean. Revenue rose to $13.4 billion from $12.6 billion a year earlier, and adjusted earnings of $0.97 per share topped estimates of $0.93, with volume up 5%. Management didn't just beat the quarter, it raised the bar for the rest of the year, lifting expected earnings growth from 8% to 9% up to 9% to 10%, while revenue growth now points toward the top of its 4% to 5% range. Some of the boost came from clever timing, as World Cup hydration breaks doubled as ad slots that pushed Powerade volume up 8% and core Coca-Cola volume up 5%.What makes the growth durable is the structure underneath it. Coca-Cola outsources its bottling, trucking, and distribution, keeping the business asset-light in a way Pepsi doesn't, and it sticks to beverages rather than carrying food brands exposed to rising input costs. That's a meaningful reason Coca-Cola has outperformed Pepsi in nearly every stretch since 1990, and it's the same logic that's kept Berkshire collecting over $800 million a year in dividends from a stake it built decades ago.The Bill That Comes With Consistency, Coke vs PepsiConsistency like that isn't free. Coca-Cola trades at a steep premium to PepsiCo's (NASDAQ:PEP), and its 2.45% dividend yield lags PepsiCo's 4.26% by a wide margin, an easy argument for anyone prioritizing income. There's a quieter wrinkle too. Despite calling Coca-Cola a forever stock, Berkshire hasn't bought a single additional share since 1994. Holding isn't the same as adding, and even the company's most famous long-term believer has been satisfied collecting the dividend rather than paying up for more of the stock.Coca-Cola's hedge fund count slipped from 87 to 76 last quarter, while PepsiCo's fell more modestly, from 74 to 72, which reads more like broad trimming than a rush out of either name. Short interest backs that up: 1.12% of Coca-Cola's float is sold short compared with 2.66% for Pepsi, both low enough that neither stock is facing serious organized betting against it.Terms and Privacy PolicyEU DSA contactPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info