When I wrote about the new "Enviga" calorie-burning green tea soda from The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) earlier today, I happened upon Hank Greenberg's blog, almost by chance, and his off-hand comment that "to show how hated Coke is: Merrill Lynch came out with a report Friday reiterating a 'buy' on Coke and the stock slipped." What's more, the stock fell a touch on the news of the Enviga launch, not recovering perceptibly until today; three trading days later and on love for a potential successor to CEO Neville Isdell [president of international operations Muhtar Kent is expected to be promoted to COO].

So I took a look at Greenberg's column in the Wall Street Journal this weekend [subscription required], in which he called Coke a comeback kid in the making, quoting those who think the company is "a company starting on its way back with several of the most powerful brands in the world." Coke of 1998 -- when the stock price was at its peak -- is the Coke I'm most familiar with, a Coke that was the home team for the Atlanta Olympics, a Coke that, in my then-adopted home region of the South, was everyone's legacy stock (like Microsoft was the Northwest's legacy "grandma" stock).

Then, a loved leader died. After Roberto Goizueta was felled by lung cancer in 1997 (don't smoke boys and girls!), M. Douglas Ivester took his sparkling shiny red company and, with the considerable assistance of successor Douglas N. Daft, drove the stock price down, down, down. Isdell has failed to woo the hearts of Wall Street and we're left with a profitable, cash-rich Coke, stocked with a stable of brands that define the word "Brand," that everyone hates.

And. What better time to buy than this?

Continue reading Coke is it -- that is, if 'it' is 'most hated stock.' Could new leader mean love?

Coke is it -- that is, if 'it' is 'most hated stock.' Could new leader mean love? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Oct 2006 20:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.