Coca-Cola says 2019 will be volatile. Pepsi said this year will be just fine. Both say sales will grow 4%.
What gives?
"They have a different geography set than we do," PepsiCo CFO Hugh Johnston told CNN Business on Friday.
PepsiCo (PEP), which reported its full year and fourth-quarter earnings on Friday, expects a 2% drag on its growth from foreign exchange rates in the coming year. Coca-Cola, which reported earnings on Thursday, said it expects that figure to be at around 6 or 7%.
Despite their soda rivalry, Coca-Cola and Pepsi are very different companies: Coke is all about beverages, while Pepsi has a big snack business which includes Frito-Lay and Quaker.
Johnston told CNN Business he expects 2019 to be "benign" and "favorable" to the company's bottom line. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola (KO) CEO James Quincey said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" Thursday morning that this year will "be more volatile and uncertain than 2018."
Coke had its worst trading day since 2008 on Thursday. But investors don't seem too worried about Pepsi's 2019 forecast. Shares of the company were up about 2% before the bell.