2 Consumer Defensive Stocks With Room to Run

On the Feb. 9, 2026, episode of The Morning Filter, David Sekera and Susan Dziubinski discuss why they think these two consumer defensive stocks can maintain their momentum in 2026. Here is an excerpt from the episode.

Why Mondelez International Stock Is a Buy

Susan Dziubinski: Your second stock pick this week also reported earnings last week. It’s Mondelez International MDLZ. Give us the key metrics on this one.

David Sekera: Mondelez is a 5-star-rated stock, trades at an 18% discount to fair value, and has a 3.3% dividend yield. We rate this company with a Low Uncertainty and a wide economic moat, with that wide economic moat being based on its cost advantage and intangible assets.

Dziubinski: The stock’s also having a pretty good year, it’s up about 11%, yet still looks pretty undervalued. Why do you like it?

Sekera: Generally, I’d say Mondelez has had the same problems as all the other food manufacturers that we’ve been talking about for quite a while. Volumes remain under pressure. Costs have been increasing. They’re having a tough time pushing through the price increases. We’re definitely seeing a lot of pressure on margins. But overall, Mondelez has very strong brands. In fact, our analyst has noted that 70% of its snack offerings are either at least holding, if not gaining, market share.

I think what I like about this company is that, with the US market trading at pretty high valuations, a lot of people are asking for stock picks that are going to be more leveraged to the emerging markets. In this case, you can get essentially a domestic company that has a good blend of sales in the emerging markets. I think about 40% of sales here go to the emerging markets, whereas most US food companies are only 25 to 30%. And in this case, management has said that they’re targeting at least mid-single-digit, long-term growth in the emerging markets, whereas you’re only going to get low-single-digit growth in the developed markets. Taking a look at our model here. The total revenue five-year compound annual growth rate 3.8%. We’re looking for some gradual margins, margin improvement over the next couple of years, but again, just getting back toward more historical-type averages. We’re looking at 10% earnings growth from 2026 to 2029, and it still only trades at 17 times our 2026 earnings estimate.

Why Constellation Brands Has Room to Run

Dziubinski: Your third pick this week is Constellation Brands STZ. Give us the highlights on this one.

Sekera: It’s a 4-star-rated stock, 25% discount, 2.5% dividend yield. We rate the company with a Medium Uncertainty, also a wide economic moat based on cost advantages and intangible assets.

Dziubinski: Here’s another stock with some momentum. It’s up nearly 20% this year. Why do you think it still has more room to run?

Sekera: Well, and unfortunately, this is another one where I probably started recommending this too early. It still had further to go to the downside before it bottomed out. But again, another good example of dollar-cost averaging in the positions to the downside. In this case, I think we’re starting to see some evidence that the decline in alcohol consumption is over, starting to see consumption stabilizing at the current levels. Revenue from beer only declined 1% this past quarter. That’s much better than the 5% contraction that we’ve been seeing for quite a while now. The company also noted that some new product launches are helping to offset those declines. Now, of course, beer, specifically the Corona and Modelo brands, is about 90% of sales. That’s why we’re following beer so closely here.

Operating margins are now finally starting to hold in there. And then, lastly, the company for the past three quarters has made over $800 million worth of share buybacks. That should be very value-accretive to shareholders over time, considering how much of a discount that stock is trading at. Taking a look at our earnings estimate for this year at $11.57, the stock is only trading at 14 times that multiple. So, it still looks pretty attractive to us, even after that pop.

Subscribe to The Morning Filter on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, and keep up with the latest research from hosts Susan Dziubinski and David Sekera on Morningstar.com.