24/36 against 25/36 checks · to 2026-09-11

KO vs MSFT.

Coca-ColaSells concentrate and syrup to bottlers for the world's best-known drinks.

MicrosoftSells Windows, Office and Azure cloud computing to businesses and consumers.

→Microsoft (MSFT) is 9.7 times the size of Coca-Cola (KO) at $3.68T against $379.9B, and on the filings Microsoft passes more, 25 checks of 36 against 24.

Which passes more checks?

widest gap first

→No axis separates them by more than 2 of six checks, and the widest is Growth.

	KO	MSFT
Growth	3/6	5/6
Quality	6/6	5/6
Financial health	4/6	5/6
Shareholder returns	6/6	5/6
Value	1/6	1/6
Trend	4/6	4/6
All checks	24/36	25/36

→Microsoft turns over $331.8B to Coca-Cola's $49.3B, 6.7 times as much. Coca-Cola keeps 27.8% of revenue as profit against 40.3% at Microsoft.

Which is growing faster, KO or MSFT?

→Microsoft grew revenue faster over the last twelve months, +17.8% against +5.1% at Coca-Cola - 13 points apart. Over three years the order is reversed: Microsoft compounds at +16.1% against +3.7%.

	KO	MSFT
Revenue (TTM)	$49.3B	$331.8B
Revenue growth, 1 year	+5.1%	+17.8%
Revenue CAGR, 3 years	+3.7%	+16.1%
Net income (TTM)	$13.7B	$133.7B
Free cash flow (TTM)	$12.6B	$67.0B

Which keeps more of each sale?

→Microsoft keeps more of each sale: gross margin of 67.9% against 61.7%, a gap of 6 points that flows into everything below it.

	KO	MSFT
Gross margin	61.7%	67.9%
Operating margin	29.3%	46.8%
Return on equity	40.7%	30.2%

Which balance sheet is stronger?

→Microsoft carries much the lighter balance sheet, 0.09x of debt to equity against 1.30x - which matters most in the year a downturn arrives, not this one.

	KO	MSFT
Debt / equity	1.30x	0.09x
Interest coverage	8.8x	50.9x
Cash and short-term investments	$10.6B	$76.8B

Which hands more back to owners?

→Both pay: Coca-Cola yields the more at 2.4% against 0.7%. A yield rises when a price falls, so read it beside the payout checks in each report.

	KO	MSFT
Dividend yield	2.4%	0.7%
Payout ratio	64.7%	19.8%
Years of unbroken dividend	-	-

Which is cheaper?

→Microsoft is the cheaper of the two on earnings, 27.6x against 27.8x. Against their own histories, Coca-Cola is above its 22.2x median and Microsoft is above its 26.9x.

	KO	MSFT
Share price	$88.29	$495.63
Market cap	$379.9B	$3.68T
P/E	27.8x	27.6x
P/E, own median own 11-year median / own 11-year median	22.2x	26.9x
P/S	7.7x	11.1x
Free cash flow yield	3.3%	1.8%

Where they differ most

the checks behind the gap

Growth: Microsoft 2 ahead

MSFT passesOutgrew its sector over the last twelve months 17.8% vs 17.0% (sector 70th pct, n=413)
MSFT passesSustained growth beats its sector (3 years) 16.1% vs 14.9% (sector 70th pct, n=396)
MSFT passesProfits grew over the last twelve months 31.3% vs 0.0%

KO failsOutgrew its sector over the last twelve months 5.1% vs 6.4% (sector 70th pct, n=55)
KO failsSustained growth beats its sector (3 years) 3.7% vs 7.0% (sector 70th pct, n=55)
KO failsProfit growth beats its sector (3 years) 11.2% vs 13.2% (sector 70th pct, n=36)

Quality: Coca-Cola 1 ahead

KO passesBetter gross margins than its sector 61.7% vs 36.5% (sector 70th pct, n=52)
KO passesRuns leaner than its sector (operating margin) 29.3% vs 11.0% (sector 70th pct, n=52)
KO passesActually profitable TTM net income $13.7B

MSFT failsBetter gross margins than its sector 67.9% vs 74.5% (sector 70th pct, n=252)