Roberto Goizueta, the late, legendary chief executive of Coca-Cola Co., fueled a 39-fold surge in the company’s stock by relying on its flagship brand: Coke. Now, after the U.S. market for soft drinks shrank for two years, current CEO Neville Isdell has turned to the lab to try to restore growth and revive the shares by creating new drinks with proven health benefits. Some say it’s too little, too late…Coca-Cola is running as many as 21 clinical trials to prove the benefits of drinks such as Minute Maid Heart Wise orange juice, which lowers cholesterol, and Enviga green tea, which boosts metabolism. Those products can be twice as profitable as soda, which still accounts for 80% of Coca-Cola’s sales.

The shares, already up about 10% in 2007, are forecast to rise 11% in the coming year to $59. Even at that price, they’ll still be a third less than they were at the stock’s all-time high of $87.94 in 1998. Coca-Cola stock had gained every year from 1981 through 1998 as the company expanded overseas and sold assets such as Columbia Pictures and Sterling Vineyards.

After Goizueta’s death in 1997, the company struggled with management changes, with three CEOs in the next seven years. The stock dropped in 1999 and lost half its value until reaching a low of $37.07 in March 2003.

Isdell, who worked for Coca-Cola and its bottlers for three decades, was brought out of retirement in June 2004 to take the helm. At the time, the shares were trading at about $51. They have gained 3.7% during his tenure…While soda sales have shrunk in North America, overseas demand is surging in countries such as China, Russia, Brazil and parts of Europe. Coca-Cola gets 70% of sales outside North America.

—Mary Jane Credeur, Bloomberg News, 9/3/07