PepsiCo gains from brands, global push

Article Excerpt

PEPSICO INC. $52 (New York symbol PEP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $83.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; WSSF Rating: Above Average) is one of the world’s largest food companies. PepsiCo’s main products include soft drinks (Pepsi-Cola), snack foods (Frito-Lay), sport drinks (Gatorade), fruit juices (Tropicana) and cereals (Quaker Oats). PepsiCo owns 18 brands that each generate annual sales of over $1 billion. PepsiCo continues to do a good job of increasing its sales and earnings in a highly competitive industry. Moreover, it’s cutting its costs with a new restructuring plan, that includes closing plants and laying off 2% of its employees. The plan should save PepsiCo a total of $1.2 billion over the next three years, including between $350 million and $400 million this year. PepsiCo may use the cash that these savings free up to expand advertising this year, which should lift the company’s sales. In 2008, PepsiCo’s sales rose 9.6%, to $43.3 billion from…