1 Stat That Makes Monster Beverage Hard to Ignore Right Now
Key Points
Monster Beverage has no long-term debt, while Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Keurig Dr Pepper, and Celsius Holdings all carry billions of dollars in total debt.
Keurig Dr Pepper's long-term debt equals 74.2% of its market cap; Monster's is 0.0%.
Monster borrowed $750 million in 2024 to help fund a buyback, then repaid the three-year loan in 2025.
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Ask most beverage giants how much they owe, and the answer arrives with a lot of zeros attached. Ask Monster Beverage (NASDAQ: MNST), and the answer is just a single zero. That's right: Monster holds no long-term debt at all.
Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) carries $43.5 billion in long-term debt as of Oct. 2, 2026. PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) has $42.6 billion. Keurig Dr. Pepper (NASDAQ: KDP) owes $31.2 billion. Even Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ: CELH), the young upstart, has $2.4 billion of debt.
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Scaled to market cap, Keurig Dr. Pepper's long-term debt equals 74.2% of its value, Celsius 34.6%, PepsiCo 24.8%, and Coca-Cola 11.7%.
Monster's figure is still 0%.
Image source: Getty Images.
A lasting advantage
The energy drink titan does know how to borrow money from time to time. It took on $750 million in 2024 to help pay for a $3 billion buyback, then cleared the tab in 2025, well before the three-year loan came due. That's the difference between using debt and living off borrowed money.
A debt-free company also gets to pick its moments. Managing through a downturn, a juicy acquisition, or another massive buyback becomes a choice rather than an obligation, and nobody at the bank gets a vote.
The catch is Monster's valuation. The stock trades at 39.7 times free cash flow, the highest multiple in the non-alcoholic beverage group. You're paying for Monster's squeaky-clean balance sheet because the market already noticed. It's still a real advantage that isn't going away anytime soon.
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Anders Bylund has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Monster Beverage. The Motley Fool recommends Celsius Holdings. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
