PepsiCo is considering consumer value amid shrinkflation: Analyst

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PepsiCo (PEP) released mixed third quarter results, missing on revenue ($23.32 billion versus estimates of $23.8 billion) and narrowly eeking by earnings estimates (gains of $2.31 per share versus expectations of $2.30). The soft drink and snack giant revised its 2024 full-year sales outlook following lagging North American and international sales.

"The weakness was really in the North America business, both in the snacking and the Quaker food business. And then a little bit of softening [in] some international markets like China, Middle East, even Latin America. Also, Pepsi lowered their full year guidance on organic sales," Citi US beverages, household products, and personal care lead analyst Filippo Falorni tells Yahoo Finance.

Falorni describes the consumer pullback behavior that Pepsi and other household brands, like Coca-Cola (KO), are seeing.

"I know there's a lot more political attention to shrinkflation. I know Congress is clearly making it a focus to push back on these companies, to give value back to the consumer. And Pepsi talked about it today on the earnings call," Falorni says. "So Pepsi today talked about giving more value in the form of larger pack or for example, bigger multi-packs with more smaller packs within the multipack as a way of again giving back value to the consumer after significant price increases over the last three years."

In an interview with Yahoo Finance earlier today, Bank of America Securities senior consumer goods analyst Bryan Spillane characterized Pepsi as pushing its position "too far" amid so-called snackflation trends, which could lead the brand into an adjustment period.

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This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.

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