The Motley Fool's Micah Zimmerman prefers a 50/50 split of KO and PEP over Celsius for the second half, citing dividends and diversification. Alpha Scores: KO 51, PEP 40.
The Motley Fool's Micah Zimmerman compared two approaches for the second half of 2026: buying beaten-down Celsius Holdings or splitting the same dollars evenly between Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Zimmerman came down on the side of the giants.
Celsius has lost roughly 36% of its value so far in 2026. The stock trades well below where it started the year. The analysis notes that Celsius has reinvented itself from a single-brand upstart into an energy-drink portfolio company, pairing its namesake line with Alani Nu and the Rockstar brand it picked up from PepsiCo. That gives Celsius a serious slice of the U.S. energy category.
The original Celsius brand has lost momentum. Several of its product lines have slowed or shrunk in recent months even as the newer brands carry the load. The market has punished the stock quickly, the analysis argues, because Celsius was priced for rapid growth and its flagship product cooled. The turnaround may well work. It remains a bet on one category and on management stitching three brands into one smooth machine.
The functional, better-for-you wave that lifted Celsius is now being ridden by the incumbents. Coca-Cola rolled out Simply Pop, a prebiotic soda pitched around gut health. PepsiCo bought the trendy prebiotic brand Poppi and launched its own Pepsi Prebiotic Cola nationwide, while reformulating core products to cut sugar and remove artificial colors and flavors. The trend that was supposed to make legacy soda obsolete is being absorbed by legacy soda, Zimmerman wrote. That removes one of the main arguments for owning a disruptor.
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo do not live or die on one product. Coca-Cola spans sodas, water, sports drinks, coffee, and juice across almost every country. PepsiCo pairs its drinks with Frito-Lay, so a slow quarter for soda can be offset by chips and dips. Both are longtime dividend payers with decades of annual raises. Celsius pays nothing and asks investors to stomach volatility in exchange for hope of price appreciation. For a second-half horizon that could bring more market turbulence, being paid to wait has genuine value, the analysis said.
PepsiCo holds a stake in Celsius and distributes its drinks. It sold Rockstar to Celsius. So if the energy drink boom keeps running, PepsiCo captures a piece of that upside anyway, without making energy drinks the whole thesis. Buying Pepsi is a bit like getting a sliver of the Celsius trade bundled inside a far steadier business, Zimmerman wrote.
None of this means Celsius is doomed. If its core brand reignites and international expansion scales, a stock down this much could rebound sharply. For the second half of 2026, Zimmerman said he would rather own the 50/50 split of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, citing global diversification and growing dividends, with companies adapting to the health trend.
AlphaScala's proprietary scoring gives KO a Mixed 51 and PEP a Mixed 40, reflecting neutral near-term signals.
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