- Morgan Stanley keeps Coca-Cola (KO +0.4%) set as a top pick in the staples sector after meeting with the company's CFO.
- MS thinks Coca-Cola is confident in its topline growth formula and sees three key levers (execution, revenue growth management and ramping innovation) supporting mid single-digit topline growth moving forward.
- Coca-Cola is also seen having pricing potential in emerging markets and improved free cash flow generation.
- "On the acquisition front, it appears that KO's focus in the near-term will be on integrating and expanding recently acquired businesses (including Costa). On a medium to longer-term basis, KO sounded more interested in acquisitions that can be scaled on a global basis to support the company's agenda vs. smaller deals to support regional gaps," observes analyst Dara Mohsenian.