PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP.US) will soon release its financial report, and Bank of America maintains its target price of $150.

Bank of America Corp has released a research report, maintaining a "neutral" rating for PepsiCo, Inc.'s cola (PEP.US) with a target price of $150. Bank of America pointed out that PepsiCo, Inc.'s cola earnings pressure is offset by lower company expenses and tax rates; its North American food business sales are weak as PepsiCo, Inc.'s cola entered a stagnant state after the end of last summer's promotion activities; and for its North American beverage business, data shows overall normalcy, waiting for more distribution data from Celsius Holdings (CELH.US). PepsiCo, Inc.'s cola will announce its performance report for the third quarter of its 2025 fiscal year (ending September 6) on Thursday, October 9. Bank of America maintains its earnings per share forecast for the third quarter of the 2025 fiscal year at $2.26 (Visible Alpha statistical average is $2.27), but the bank updated its model to reflect the following: 1) Due to tariff impacts, gross profit margins decreased in the third quarter; mitigation measures will begin in the next quarter. 2) Company expenses and effective tax rates are reduced to offset this impact. 3) Bank of America lowered its forecast for organic sales in Latin American franchise operations from a 3% year-on-year increase to flat, considering weather issues in Mexico, Brazil, and India. This reduces the overall organic sales for the company in the third quarter of 2025 from a 2.0% year-on-year increase to 1.8%. The possibility of further sales/earnings per share revisions seems low, as the quarter appears to be performing well as expected. However, the fundamentals of PepsiCo, Inc.'s cola core business (such as the North American food business) have not shown signs of improvement or acceleration, which keeps market sentiment somewhat subdued. Nielsen shows that PepsiCo, Inc.'s cola sales data for the third quarter of the 2025 fiscal year have remained largely unchanged from the first half and the second quarter. For Fido, PepsiCo, Inc.'s cola's sales in the third quarter were impacted by unfavorable comparisons related to promotions on July 4, 2024. Quigg continues to achieve better comparative performance through recall activities by the end of 2025. For Philo, PepsiCo, Inc.'s cola continues to face shrinking mid-range brand presence; premium brand sales are strong while value brands also perform well. Nevertheless, mid-range brand sales in the survey data show a significant year-on-year decline. For the North American beverage business, survey data shows strong performance of zero sugar products, while brands like "Surge" are still declining in sales; "Aquafina" also drags down sales performance due to intentionally reduced sales. Bank of America is still awaiting discussions on the updated distribution agreement between PepsiCo, Inc.'s cola and Celsius Holdings announced in late August.