Investing in Beverage Stocks

It's hard not to love an industry that's both timeless and recession-proof, and that's exactly what you get with beverage stocks. Whether it's coffee, tea, soda, or beer, people have been paying to slake their thirst for centuries, and the industry's reliability has helped create some of the world's most valuable brands.

Even better, the industry tends to offer high profit margins thanks to high barriers to entry. In the beverage sector, large brands and global distribution networks dominate. Keep reading to learn more about the top beverage stocks in 2026.

In recent years, the company has stepped up its efforts to diversify, acquiring Costa Coffee for $5 billion in 2019. Following the COVID-19 pandemic-induced volatility, Coca-Cola has stabilized and continues to deliver steady growth, passing along price increases and benefiting from an unmatched distribution network and marketing power.

For 2024, it reported organic non-GAAP (adjusted) revenue growth of 12%, benefiting from high inflation in a number of markets. It also posted currency-neutral earnings-per-share (EPS) growth of 16%. Those are outstanding numbers for a mature business like Coca-Cola, but investors should expect them to moderate as inflation cools.

In December 2025, the company announced a new CEO, tapping Chief Operating Officer Henrique Braun to replace James Quincey, who had a successful run after taking the reins in 2017. Quincey added a number of billion-dollar brands to the portfolio, including Topo Chico and Fairlife. Braun looks like a good pick to continue the company's success under Quincey.

2. PepsiCo

Coca-Cola's chief rival, PepsiCo (PEP -0.69%), has the benefit of being diversified into food and snacks. In addition to its ownership of beverage brands such as Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Gatorade, it also owns the Frito-Lay snack brand and Quaker Foods.

Snack food sales have historically outperformed soda, arguably giving Pepsi an advantage over pure-play beverage companies like Coke. However, that trend changed in 2025 due in part to concerns about inflation and an interest in healthier foods. Quaker has also given the company additional exposure to the supermarket channel.

Through the first three quarters of 2025, international growth delivered solid results for Pepsi, while volumes declined in North America. Management remains focused on accelerating growth and optimizing its cost structure, as the company seems to have reached a limit with raising prices to pass along inflation.

The company also plans to cut 20% of its product offering, lower some food prices, and invest in marketing to drive improvements in 2026 in response to concerns from activist investor Elliott Investment Management. There are also fears that weight loss drugs like Ozempic could hurt junk-food purveyors like PepsiCo, but CEO Ramon Laguarta has said they aren't having an effect so far.

3. Monster Beverage

Believe it or not, Monster Beverage (MNST +0.11%) has been one of the best-performing stocks on the market since its 1992 initial public offering (IPO) and is up more than 200,000% since then. What was once a tiny beverage company called Hansen Natural struck gold in the 1990s when it acquired the Monster brand, which followed in Red Bull's footsteps to become the No. 2 energy drink in the U.S.

Monster remains a high-margin winner today, having ridden the energy drink boom and spun that brand into multiple flavors and subtypes. While there are signs that growth in the energy drink market may be starting to slow, the company experienced an acceleration in sales growth in the third quarter, with strong international growth, double-digit increases in core brands like Monster and Monster Ultra, a zero-sugar energy drink, and affordable brands like Predator and Fury.

Monster should continue to enjoy leading market share thanks to its partnership with Coca-Cola, widespread distribution, and well-known brand.

The company, which has a reputation as a healthier energy drink maker, partnered with Pepsi, which took an 8.5% stake in the energy drink brand. However, Pepsi ordered too much inventory, leading to a slowdown in sales for Celsius in 2024, though Pepsi corrected for that and optimized its supply chain.

Since then, its growth has picked up again, driven by its acquisition of Alani Nu, a female-focused energy drink and wellness brand. In the third quarter, reported revenue increased 173% to $725.1 million, spurred on by the addition of Alani Nu, Celsius' acquisition of Rockstar Energy from PepsiCo in August 2025, and a 31% rise in Celsius' retail sales.

The acquisitions show Celsius isn't standing still in the rapidly evolving energy drink market, and the return to growth at the Celsius brand bodes well for the company.

5. Boston Beer

Sam Adams' parent company, Boston Beer (SAM +2.12%), was an early pioneer of craft beer, differentiating itself from macro-brewers like Anheuser-Busch/InBev (BUD +0.76%). However, the company has lost some of that differentiation as microbreweries have boomed, and it's looked elsewhere for growth.

The Truly Hard Seltzer brand looked promising when sales of hard seltzer were soaring during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the category has since faded. Other malt beverages, like Twisted Tea and Hard Mountain Dew, have been successful for the company more recently.

The company has also sought to expand through acquisitions, though its purchase of Dogfish Head, a craft beer brand, was a misstep that led to a write-down. Revenue was flat in 2024, but Boston Beer continues to see opportunities in the Beyond Beer category, which includes its more successful Twisted Tea and Hard Mountain Dew brands.

In 2025, founder Jim Koch returned as CEO on an interim basis after Michael Spillane stepped down for personal reasons. While beer sales are still challenged across the industry, the company raised its gross margin and EPS guidance in the third quarter, showing it's making operational improvements in a difficult market.

6. Vita Coco

Coconut water is one of the newest beverage categories, and Vita Coco (COCO -2.90%) has jumped on the trend as the only pure-play coconut water stock on the market. Coconut water is seeing strong growth as a category because it is healthy and natural, giving it an advantage over alternative beverages like energy drinks, sports drinks, and sodas.

Like other alcohol stocks, growth has been sluggish of late as it competes in a mature industry, and there has been a variety of headwinds in the alcohol industry. Organic net sales were up 1.7% in the year ended June 2025, showing the company still managed to deliver top-line growth in a difficult environment.

Diageo has long been a profit machine thanks to a strong portfolio of loyalty-inspiring brands in a difficult-to-enter industry. It reported an operating margin of 28% in fiscal 2025, and it should remain a cash-flow engine even if growth remains sluggish. It also offered a strong dividend yield of 4.8% in December 2025.