British American Tobacco p.l.c. vs DIAGEO plc, two Food & Beverage stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Both sell legal vices as ADRs, one tobacco and one spirits, and both run without net debt. British American Tobacco keeps a striking 30.32% of revenue as profit, more than triple Diageo's 9.08%, though Diageo earns more on equity, 18.53% against 16.13%. The market discounts the cigarette maker hard: 14.13 times earnings for BTI against 19.73 for Diageo. That gap is the price of decline, since tobacco volumes shrink while spirits are meant to endure. Diageo's reported 27.68% free cash yield dwarfs BTI's 5.34%, but a number that extreme usually reflects a one-off, so weigh it gently. BTI is the far larger house at $137.3B against Diageo's $46.4B.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | BTI | DEO |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $60.01 | $81.96 |
| Market cap | $131.2B | $45.5B |
| Sector | Food & Beverage | Food & Beverage |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| P/E | 13.5 | 19.4 |
| P/B | 2.15 | 3.32 |
| P/S | 4.05 | 1.63 |
| EV/EBITDA | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| Revenue growth | +0.0% | +4.2% |
| Gross margin | — | 43.5% |
| Operating margin | 39.0% | 15.5% |
| Net margin | 30.3% | 9.1% |
| Return on equity | 16.1% | 18.5% |
| Return on assets | 7.1% | 5.0% |
| Return on invested capital | 16.4% | 22.7% |
| FCF yield | 5.6% | 28.2% |
| Debt / equity | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 0.87 | 1.60 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 6.81 | 2.00 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 4 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.