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All stocks · Consumer Defensive · Soft Drinks & Non-alcoholic Beverages

PepsiCo PEP

PepsiCo scores average on business quality (5.7 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.

Last price$125.97Oct 10, 2026
Business qualityAverage
Next earningsFeb 1, 2027, after the close
Insiders, 90 daysSelling

Why it matters

  1. What PepsiCo does

    PepsiCo sells beverages and convenient foods worldwide, generating $96.9 billion in revenue by charging global consumers for iconic snacks and drinks through direct store delivery and retail partners. The company is leaning heavily into supply chain automation and portfolio adjustments to defend its volume growth against shifting consumer habits.

  2. What it does best

    PepsiCo dominates global snack distribution, wielding a gross margin of 54.2% that outpaces peers like KDP at 49.4% and COKE at 40.2%. This advantage stems from an entrenched direct-store-delivery network that small rivals cannot replicate without decades of capital and retail alignment.

  3. The main risk

    Debt levels remain a structural friction point, with total debt at $49.2 billion creating a heavy reliance on consistent cash flow to service obligations. If input inflation spikes or volumes slip further, interest coverage of 13.6x leaves little room for capital allocation errors.

Quality, check by check

Scored against its own industry, from company filings.

ProfitabilityFair

Operating margin stands at 15.8% with an FCF margin of 9.6%, securing a top quartile gross margin rank of 79th percentile. Scale drives reliable cash generation despite heavy distribution costs.

MoatStrong

An expansive brand portfolio locks in massive retail shelf space, earning an 89th percentile ROE of 50.2%. Retailers cannot easily replace top-tier snack brands without sacrificing high-margin store traffic.

GrowthSlow

Revenue grew at 2.3% over the latest period, matching a stagnant middle-of-the-pack sector rank of 42nd percentile. Growth is sluggish compared to historical pace, weighed down by mature developed markets.

Financial healthFair

Total debt sits at $49.2 billion against $9.5 billion in cash, leaving net debt at $39.7 billion. Free cash flow reached $9.3 billion with $7.8 billion returned via dividends, keeping the balance sheet manageable but leaning soft.

Insiders

Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.

1 sold $405K outside pre-planned sales.

Our sealed record on PEP

Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.

The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.

Questions

Is PEP a good business?

PepsiCo scores average on the Cluenex quality check (5.7 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is fair, moat strong, growth slow and financial health fair.

Are insiders buying PEP?

In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: 1 sold $405K outside pre-planned sales.

When does PEP report earnings?

Feb 1, 2027, after the close.

For members

See PEP today

  • Today's verdict on PEP, and why
  • Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
  • The exact price that would change the verdict
  • Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
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Cite this page: Cluenex, “PepsiCo (PEP)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/pep/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.