Abstract This research considers The Coca-Cola Company from an ...

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1/2/2004
5-Year Price History, Coca-Cola (KO), Pepsi (PEP) and Dr. Pepper / Snapple (DPS)
4/2/2004
7/2/2004
10/2/2004
1/2/2005
4/2/2005
7/2/2005
10/2/2005
1/2/2006
4/2/2006
7/2/2006
10/2/2006
Date
KO DPS PEP
1/2/2007
4/2/2007
7/2/2007
10/2/2007
1/2/2008
4/2/2008
7/2/2008
10/2/2008
Coca-Cola 7
This chart illustrates that the industry as a whole tracks the same, but that Coca-Cola has
been consistently lower valued than Pepsi by the market in recent years, despite having
approximately the same price five years ago. The chart also illustrates that the gap between the
two companies has narrowed significantly recently, suggesting that Coca-Cola might be
undervalued relative to Pepsi by the market.
Opening the Pipeline
Coca-Cola had been criticized for keeping its eyes mainly on carbonated soft drinks for
many years longer than it should have, while consumers and the competition were embracing
energy drinks, sports drinks, ready-to-drink teas and the like (Theodore, 2008).
During the past several years, Coca-Cola acquired and developed a number of new
brands to broaden its presence in additional categories. In its largest acquisition to date, it bought
1/2/2009