The truly interesting part of Coca-Cola may not be how much it’s gone up—but rather that you think you’ve already figured it out.
🏑 Netizen: Mr. Duan, hello. I’m 14 years old. I have a question that might be a bit offensive, but I genuinely can’t make sense of it, and I want to ask you directly.
I’ve noticed a phenomenon: Coca-Cola—an industry-recognized value-investing benchmark across your generation—now that the sector isn’t growing, it uses cash flow to acquire new brands just to hold its ground. The stock price moves up and down within a range over the past decade, and in the end shareholders only manage to earn some dividends. Meanwhile, companies that generate dozens-of-times returns are all in technology and AI, emerging by riding industry trends.
So I have a bold question: in today’s era, is trend investing replacing value investing?
You say that a dollar’s worth of something will ultimately be worth a dollar, and that price will revert to value. But the “value” of tech companies changes every day. Today’s moat might be filled in by new technology tomorrow. By the time it “reverts to value,” the company might be gone. On the other hand, many of the people who truly make big money are the ones who understand trends and get onboard when conditions are favorable—not the ones who wait to finish calculating DCF before acting.
So I’d like to ask you face-to-face: when an era’s wealth is created mainly by technological revolutions—not by incumbent leaders creating value from the stock of the past—does clinging to “good companies + cheap prices” value investing have now become a path dependency of the older generation? Is value investing eternal, or is it only a product of a particular era? If value investing hasn’t become outdated, what is the most important correction it needs in the tech era? I hope Mr. Duan can offer guidance.
⛳️ Duan Yongping: What is your definition of “value investing”? Is it buying Coca-Cola? (2026.9.22)
🏑 Netizen: My definition of value investing is: buying stocks means buying companies—buying truly capable companies—then receiving high dividends, and buying companies with low valuations.
⛳️ Duan Yongping: Buying stocks means buying companies—it means buying the future cash flows of companies. Whether there are dividends right now isn’t the deciding factor, because good companies that can earn money over the long term will eventually return money to shareholders, either through dividends, buybacks, or a combination of both.
“Low valuation” means relative to future cash flows, not the PE you see today.
If you can understand change—or say, if you can understand trends—you will eventually make a lot of money. But if you’re only trying to jump from one “spring pit” to another, you’ll live a hard life sooner or later (as I write this, I think of the movie *The Hero of Liangshan*, “Saving the Lembeng”). I think many fellow golfers stuck in those pits will understand this line.
⛳️ Duan Yongping: I’ve never invested in Coca-Cola, but I may understand what you’re asking even more than you do. Just take your time to figure it out yourself. I’ve said what I should say. Wishing you good luck.
⛳️ Duan Yongping: Coca-Cola has risen a lot over the past ten-plus years! I thought young people don’t drink it anymore.
🏑 Netizen: Mr. Duan, I’m 40. Throughout the years I’ve often stepped into traps. I’m curious—how is it that when you were young you didn’t fall into “spring pits”?
⛳️ Duan Yongping: Are you sure you fell in? What I’ve seen more often is people jumping in themselves. (2026.9.22)
🏑 Netizen: Mr. Duan, hello. I’m 14 years old. I have a question that might be a bit offensive, but I genuinely can’t make sense of it, and I want to ask you directly.
I’ve noticed a phenomenon: Coca-Cola—an industry-recognized value-investing benchmark across your generation—now that the sector isn’t growing, it uses cash flow to acquire new brands just to hold its ground. The stock price moves up and down within a range over the past decade, and in the end shareholders only manage to earn some dividends. Meanwhile, companies that generate dozens-of-times returns are all in technology and AI, emerging by riding industry trends.
So I have a bold question: in today’s era, is trend investing replacing value investing?
You say that a dollar’s worth of something will ultimately be worth a dollar, and that price will revert to value. But the “value” of tech companies changes every day. Today’s moat might be filled in by new technology tomorrow. By the time it “reverts to value,” the company might be gone. On the other hand, many of the people who truly make big money are the ones who understand trends and get onboard when conditions are favorable—not the ones who wait to finish calculating DCF before acting.
So I’d like to ask you face-to-face: when an era’s wealth is created mainly by technological revolutions—not by incumbent leaders creating value from the stock of the past—does clinging to “good companies + cheap prices” value investing have now become a path dependency of the older generation? Is value investing eternal, or is it only a product of a particular era? If value investing hasn’t become outdated, what is the most important correction it needs in the tech era? I hope Mr. Duan can offer guidance.
⛳️ Duan Yongping: What is your definition of “value investing”? Is it buying Coca-Cola? (2026.9.22)
🏑 Netizen: My definition of value investing is: buying stocks means buying companies—buying truly capable companies—then receiving high dividends, and buying companies with low valuations.
⛳️ Duan Yongping: Buying stocks means buying companies—it means buying the future cash flows of companies. Whether there are dividends right now isn’t the deciding factor, because good companies that can earn money over the long term will eventually return money to shareholders, either through dividends, buybacks, or a combination of both.
“Low valuation” means relative to future cash flows, not the PE you see today.
If you can understand change—or say, if you can understand trends—you will eventually make a lot of money. But if you’re only trying to jump from one “spring pit” to another, you’ll live a hard life sooner or later (as I write this, I think of the movie *The Hero of Liangshan*, “Saving the Lembeng”). I think many fellow golfers stuck in those pits will understand this line.
⛳️ Duan Yongping: I’ve never invested in Coca-Cola, but I may understand what you’re asking even more than you do. Just take your time to figure it out yourself. I’ve said what I should say. Wishing you good luck.
⛳️ Duan Yongping: Coca-Cola has risen a lot over the past ten-plus years! I thought young people don’t drink it anymore.
🏑 Netizen: Mr. Duan, I’m 40. Throughout the years I’ve often stepped into traps. I’m curious—how is it that when you were young you didn’t fall into “spring pits”?
⛳️ Duan Yongping: Are you sure you fell in? What I’ve seen more often is people jumping in themselves. (2026.9.22)