Zacks Research Has Negative Outlook for PepsiCo Q3 Earnings

Key Points

• Zacks Research cut PepsiCo’s Q3 2026 EPS estimate to $2.32 from $2.43, signaling a more cautious outlook ahead of the company’s next earnings report.
• Despite the lower estimate, PepsiCo recently beat Q2 earnings expectations, reporting $2.20 EPS on $24.18 billion in revenue and raising its FY 2026 guidance to $8.55-$8.71 per share.
• Wall Street remains mixed on PEP: the stock currently carries a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $157.90, while shares were trading near their 52-week low and the company offers a 4.4% dividend yield.

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) - Research analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q3 2026 EPS estimates for shares of PepsiCo in a research note issued on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $2.32 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.43. The consensus estimate for PepsiCo's current full-year earnings is $8.58 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for PepsiCo's Q4 2026 earnings at $2.43 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $8.56 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.67 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $2.48 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $2.52 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $8.98 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $1.76 EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at $2.44 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $9.50 EPS.

PEP has been the topic of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Piper Sandler set a $176.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $138.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $183.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $157.90.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $134.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $142.36 and a 200-day moving average of $151.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.36. PepsiCo has a 52 week low of $133.73 and a 52 week high of $171.48.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 9th. The company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 54.63%. The business had revenue of $24.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. PepsiCo has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.550-8.710 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 14,857.8% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 49,252,907 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,068,777,000 after purchasing an additional 48,923,629 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $3,018,813,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 16,146.5% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,586,423 shares of the company's stock valued at $556,936,000 after buying an additional 3,564,348 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in PepsiCo by 952.6% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,715,812 shares of the company's stock worth $503,121,000 after acquiring an additional 3,362,794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 120.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $830,902,000 after acquiring an additional 3,235,726 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.59%.

PepsiCo Company Profile

PepsiCo, Inc NASDAQ: PEP is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay's, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.

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