<p>For the first time since shares in Coca-Cola Co. started trading in 1919, rival PepsiCo Inc. has stolen the southern soft-drink giant's market cap crown.</p><p>After markets closed Monday, Coke shares were priced at $41.15, down 36 cents. At the end of September, Coke, of Atlanta, Ga., had 2.4 billion shares outstanding, giving it a market capitalization, or total value of shares, of about $98.7 billion Monday.</p><p>Coke's northern rival, however, saw its stock close at $59.31, up 31 cents, Monday. As of Sept. 3, the Purchase, N.Y., soft drink and snack company had 1.7 billion shares outstanding, giving it a market capitalization of $110.8 billion on Monday.</p><p>While the market capitalization gap between the two companies is still narrow, Pepsi's pulling ahead is the latest bump Coke has experienced on a road to profit recovery it began 18 months ago.</p><p>At that time, Neville Isdell, Coke's chairman and chief executive, came out of retirement to steer the company toward renewed profit growth. His plans include increased marketing and increased output of non-carbonated drinks.</p><p>However, after trading at nearly $54 a share in the spring of 2004, Coke's stock has traded in a narrow range of between about $40 and $45 a share for the past year.</p><p>In early December, Coke issued new long-term targets, including a call for sales volume to rise between 3 percent and 4 percent, operating profit to rise between 6 percent and 8 percent, and per-share earnings to climb at a "high single digit" percentage rate, the company said. The goals exclude the effect of currency.</p><p>Shares of Coke were unchanged at $41.15 in early trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.</p><p>Pepsi's shares edged up 3 cents to $59.34 on the NYSE.</p>
