PepsiCo Has 'Clear Upside' - Morgan Stanley

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By Sam Boughedda

PepsiCo Inc (NASDAQ:PEP) was reiterated at Overweight by Morgan Stanley on Monday, with the firm stating the company's topline momentum is building, and the stock has clear upside against consensus.

In a research note, a Morgan Stanley analyst also maintained a $198 price target on the stock, telling investors the topline upside is "supported incrementally by accelerating U.S. scanner data QTD in contrast to decelerating forward consensus estimates."

"Beyond strong corporate scanner data, the even more pronounced acceleration at FLNA (Frito-Lay North America) should also drive greater LT appreciation for robust snacks business prospects, and the greater corporate impact as mix continues to shift to snacks, with snacks/food now at an estimated more than two-thirds of corporate profit," wrote the analyst. "Net, with topline (and EPS) upside, we see room for continued stock outperformance, although we acknowledge that valuation expansion potential is more muted as PEP has already outperformed large cap HPC (CL/PG/CHD) peers by 1,000 bps in the LTM and 1,500 bps if one includes CLX/KMB. PEP still trades at a compelling HSD% CY23 EV/EBITDA discount vs large cap peers."

Pepsico shares are down 0.5% Monday.

"We are encouraged by Pepsi's recent acceleration in U.S. scanner data to 13.7% QTD growth in Q3, up from strong 9.7% growth in H1, which give us even greater visibility on our call for continued topline upside vs consensus in H2, and EPS upside (albeit potentially tempered in magnitude by reinvestment)," the analyst added.