Original assessment ยท live

COKE: Hold

Published 23 Sep 2026, 07:20 BST. This is the frozen version, not the current recommendation.

Target$180.27
Target date2027-09-15
Price known at publication$192.082026-09-18

Why this assessment was issued

Stored financial statements changed; the revised figures need checking. Required data is available again; reconsider the suspended assessment. Neither a positive nor a negative classification meets the stated requirements. Review price and return, downside balance, business evidence.

Neither a positive nor a negative classification meets the stated requirements. Review price and return, downside balance, business evidence.

Supporting evidence

More cash remains for each dollar of profit

Cash after capital spending / profit: 1.2ร— for COKE, against 1.0ร— across 9 comparable peers.

Compare the stock with its market

Over one year, the stock changed +69.7% against +14.8% for US stocks (SPY). The gap is +54.9 percentage points. These are price returns, before dividends.

Opposing evidence

Year-to-date profit is lower

Across 2 completed quarters since 2025-12-31, net income was 270.4m versus 291.0m in the matching prior-year periods (USD). Check whether the latest quarter changes that direction.

Quarterly profit fell

Net income was 158.8m, compared with 187.4m in the same quarter last year. Amounts are in USD.

The original scenarios

ScenarioSales growthProfit marginModel value
Weaker4.8%11.3%$116.57
Central9.8%12.8%$180.27
Stronger14.8%14.2%$266.24

Method: Cash flow across the cycle. Loss periods, gaps or differences in the earnings basis make P/E less useful here. This assessment uses operating profit, capital spending and the balance sheet instead. Loss years remain in the margin history. The earnings method could not pass its required checks; the cash-flow method passed its own input checks. These scenarios are not probability intervals.

Original assumptions and checks
tax26.3568704538881
price192.08
years1.2101300479123889
claims0.0
growth9.821922347202761
margin12.97010900266224
profit549961000.0
shares66564294.0
cash_okTrue
debt_okTrue
growths[6.947291991853444, 9.032204501014895, 16.87942292830844, 10.611640193390626]
revenue7691647000.0
discount7.175551518680532
downside39.311963194185616
interest92400000.0
leverage2.0707726621378457
net_debt2449937000.0
terminal2
free_cash644044000.0
ppe_ratio0.22696439397179824
buy_hurdle24.16695227462521
extra_debt0
volatility38.33390454925042
basis_notes[]
capex_ratio0.039300555524714016
cash_profit549961000.0
share_ratioNot available
annual_years5
capital_cost{'tax': 26.3568704538881, 'beta': 0.2961519459645929, 'debt': 2621624000.0, 'beta_end': '2026-09-18', 'discount': 7.175551518680532, 'debt_cost': 6.51, 'risk_free': 5.01, 'beta_start': '2023-09-29', 'beta_weeks': 156, 'source_url': 'https://home.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates', 'debt_weight': 17.015473771739586, 'equity_cost': 7.663839819881976, 'equity_value': 12785669591.52, 'adjusted_beta': 0.5307679639763953, 'credit_spread': 1.5, 'equity_premium': 5.0, 'risk_free_date': '2026-09-18', 'observed_interest': 3.524532884959857}
depreciation2.6261735620472444
normal_capex4.281791728728882
tax_measuredTrue
current_capex3.930055552471402
working_ratio0.028388848318182048
financial_date2026-06-30
interest_cover10.618039302114887
operating_cash946330000.0
terminal_share82.45139631939847
reporting_basisquarterly
uncapped_growth9.821922347202761
projected_margin12.755484378253652
capital_inventory{'date': '2026-06-30', 'values': {'total_current_assets': 1526648000.0, 'total_current_liabilities': 1260241000.0}, 'version': 'capital-scope-3', 'currency': 'USD', 'evidence': {'total_current_assets': [{'end': '2026-06-30', 'unit': 'USD', 'value': 1526648000.0, 'financial_period_id': 5959041}], 'total_current_liabilities': [{'end': '2026-06-30', 'unit': 'USD', 'value': 1260241000.0, 'financial_period_id': 5959041}]}, 'conflicts': []}
cash_profit_basisReported net profit
historical_margin12.755484378253652
year5_value_share82.45139631939847
depreciation_ratio0.026261735620472442
net_debt_at_target2449937000.0
non_operating_assets0
non_operating_profit_materialFalse

Recent price ยท Passed. Weekly close dated 2026-09-18.

Current financials ยท Passed. Statements through 2026-06-30; factor prices dated 2026-09-18.

Price risk ยท Passed. Risk uses the latest 52 weekly price changes.

Operating history ยท Passed. 5 annual results, retaining operating losses and unusually strong years.

Quarterly operating results ยท Passed. Four quarters through 2026-06-30.

Cash-flow and ownership inputs ยท Passed. Capital spending, depreciation estimate, operating capital, debt, cash and other ownership claims are recorded.

Depreciation basis ยท Passed. Four matching quarters of operating income and reported depreciation are required. An unrelated EBITDA-minus-EBIT difference is not treated as depreciation.

Matching currency ยท Passed. USD statements and share price.

Operating totals ยท Passed. Quarterly sales and operating profit agree with the trailing snapshot within 5%.

Operating discount rate ยท Passed. The operating cash-flow discount rate needs a current USD Treasury rate, at least two years of matching market returns, and dated debt and share inputs. An equity return hurdle is not used as the company's funding cost.

Continuing growth and funding cost ยท Passed. The funding cost must exceed continuing growth in every valuation scenario.

Scenario consistency ยท Passed. The weaker, central and stronger assumptions must give an ordered range. When growth costs more capital than it earns, a tailored operating review is required before publishing a target.

Target publication review ยท Passed. The model estimate is within SM's automatic publication range of one quarter to four times the current price. This is a review threshold, not evidence that the market price is correct.

Cash-flow value dependence ยท Passed. Cash flows beyond year five account for 82.5% of the absolute present value. This is within SM's 90% automatic publication limit.

Investment assets and operating capital ยท Passed. No material unvalued investment balance was identified in the available capital inventory. This does not establish that every asset has been independently appraised.

Policy sm-review-2-research ยท Model sm-assessment-14-operating-capital ยท Data 9dfbdf6cde21.

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Evidence context