(Reuters) – Pepsico forecast annual profit below expectations and missed quarterly revenue estimates on Tuesday, as the Frito-Lay maker faces weakening demand for its sodas and snacks in the U.S., its largest market.
Americans are still paring back spending on sodas and salty snacks to save their dollars for essentials, forcing PepsiCo to tap promotions for volume growth after several quarters of slowdown wrought by price hikes.
The target is to bring back consumers leaning towards smaller pack sizes or picking up cheaper alternatives from retail aisles following a post-pandemic increase in prices of PepsiCo’s products.
The company’s organic volume slipped 1% for the quarter ended Dec. 28, while average prices jumped 3%.
PepsiCo expects a low-single digit increase for fiscal 2025 core earnings per share, compared with analysts’ estimates of a 4.73% rise to $8.53 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Its net revenue fell to $27.78 billion in the quarter from $27.85 billion a year earlier, while analysts had estimated $27.89 billion.
Shares of PepsiCo fell marginally in premarket trading.
(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
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