PepsiCo results gain on price hikes
PURCHASE, N.Y. - PepsiCo (PEP) said revenue for its North American snacks and drinks units rose in the fourth quarter, boosted by pricing.
The maker of Frito-Lay chips and Mountain Dew soda has been retooling its lineup to help reap more money from shoppers. The strategies include new products such as Mountain Dew Dewshine, which comes in a glass bottle and can fetch higher prices than regular cans of soda, and the expansion of bag sizes for Lay's potato chips.
The Purchase, N.Y.-based company has also been working on slashing costs to boost its financial results.
For the quarter ended Dec. 26, PepsiCo said its profit rose 31 percent to $1.72 billion. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to $1.06 per share, which was in line with Wall Street expectations.
Total revenue fell 7 percent to $18.59 billion, due to a hit from foreign exchange rates for overseas sales. But that topped the $18.52 billion analysts expected, according to Zacks Investment research.
PepsiCo expects full-year earnings to be $4.66 per share, which is lower than the $4.79 per share Wall Street expects, according to FactSet.
PepsiCo Inc. shares have decreased slightly more than 2 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has declined slightly more than 9 percent. The stock is nearly flat in the last 12 months.
In premarket trading on Thursday morning, Pepsi was down by around 0.9 percent, or 88 cents, to $96.75.