Let's first talk about the concern over who's heading Coca Cola. The loss of Roberto Goizueta was a sad and unexpected event, but a single man does not make or break a company of Coke's size and age. Coke is a company that has roughly 30,000 employees worldwide, and it has also survived through literally dozens of leadership changes over the years. I somehow doubt a single change will be Coke's undoing.
Is Coke's new CEO too optimistic about the company's prospects? Perhaps, but most intelligent investors will discount future growth rates to what they think is realistic. Even if Coke falls short of Daft's 15-20% expected growth range for profits, say hitting my own 10-15% target, that's still a healthy number. In addition, I like it when people and companies raise the bar for themselves.
And who really cares if Coke stomps on the ego of a Wise analyst or two? What will ultimately determine Coke's value is the amount of cash flow it is able to generate, not its ability to control Wall Street's manic-depressive moods.
Concerning Coke's problems in Europe, let's not make a mountain out of a molehill. Coke's contamination in Belgium had to do with some of its independent bottlers using an impure carbon dioxide in the carbonation process. The most serious medical consequence was some children felt a bit nauseous after drinking the tainted product. This was not an E.coli or other major microbial problem like those that have hampered Odwalla in the past. Of course, all of this wasn't exactly good for Coke's image in Europe, but I doubt few will remember this benign incident five or even three years from now.
To close, for the long-term investor looking to invest in a Rule Making company or even looking to start a Drip, Coke is as good a choice as any for a cornerstone holding.
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