Pepsi Boosts Guidance on Pricing Strength
PepsiCo reported better-than-expected second-quarter 2014 results before markets opened Thursday morning. Pepsi also said expects to return a total of $8.7 billion to shareholders in 2014.
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PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) reported second-quarter 2014 results before markets opened Thursday. The food and beverage company posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.32 on revenues of $16.89 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported EPS of $1.31 on revenues of $16.81 billion. Second-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $1.23 and $16.81 billion in revenues.
On a constant currency basis, adjusted operating income rose 6% on revenue growth of 3.6%. On a GAAP basis, revenues rose 0.5% and operating profit rose 1%. Higher net pricing boosted earnings in the company’s America’s food and beverage divisions and a 10% jump in operating profit in Europe and a 9% rise in Latin America.
Pepsi raised its outlook for adjusted annual EPS from a year-over-year increase of 7% to a new level of 8%. That translates to EPS of around $4.72, sharply higher than the current analysts’ estimate of $4.54. Currency translation effects are expected to have a negative impact of around 4% on 2014 EPS growth.
The company continues to expect organic revenue growth in the mid-single digits and productivity savings of $1 billion. Pepsi expects commodity price inflation in the low single-digit range for 2014.
The company’s CEO said:
Despite operating in what continues to be a challenging and volatile macro environment, we are delivering consistent, strong results. … Based on the strength of our year-to-date results and our outlook for the remainder of the year, we’re increasing our full-year, core constant currency EPS growth target to eight percent.
Pepsi expects to return a total of $8.7 billion to shareholders in 2014 through a combination of $3.7 billion in dividends and $5 billion in share buybacks.
PepsiCo shares were up about 2% in premarket trading, at $91.00 in a 52-week range of $77.01 to $91.39. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $94.800 before this report.
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.
