PepsiCo (PEP US) Hold: Rivals benefit from a broken NA business

Research evidence excerpt

PepsiCo (PEP US) Hold: Rivals benefit from a broken NA business

ROE (%) 58.1 52.9 48.4 45.4

sales by further integrating snacks and beverages. This is a market where Pepsi’s 52-WEEK PRICE (USD)

beverage presence and execution are the weakest we have seen in the US. Embracing

180.00

an efficiency-centric and finance-led fulfilment solution where industrial and financial

efficiency go first but clients are the final consideration is the opposite of a client-centric, 150.00

brand and market development business model. We don’t see how this strategy will 120.00

increase the number of points of sale or add more market development capabilities and 07/25 01/26 07/26

Target price: 155.00

drop size at each client. In failing to do so, we do not think that the firm is optimizing its High: 170.49 Low: 133.81 Current: 142.51

valuable Direct Store Delivery (DSD) capability. In NA snacks, PepsiCo’s DSD is still Source: LSEG IBES, HSBC estimates

better than the competition’s wholesaler model and not pursuing the market development

opportunity of its DSD like some Coke bottlers do strikes us as a costly lost opportunity. In Sorabh Daga*

Analyst, Global Beverages, LatAm Food

beverages, the Coke system’s drive for more granular execution and market development HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Private

stands in sharp contrast to PepsiCo’s apparent objective of just becoming a lower cost Limited

sorabh.k.daga@hsbc.co.in

shelf replenisher. This helps the Coke system, and it is not likely lost on PepsiCo’s +91 80 4550 2627

international partners. We believe there will be a point at which a poor steward of brands Carlos Laboy

and of the system at home will not be able to properly incentivize its international partners Global Beverage Head, LatAm Food Analyst