Company: PepsiCo
Business: PepsiCo is one of the world’s largest consumer packaged goods companies, with a portfolio of some of the most iconic brands in food and beverage. Its brands include: Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker and SodaStream. Its segments include Frito-Lay North America (FLNA); Quaker Foods North America (QFNA); PepsiCo Beverages North America (PBNA); Latin America (LatAm); Europe; Africa, Middle East and South Asia (AMESA), and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand and China Region (APAC). FLNA makes, markets, distributes and sells branded convenient foods, which include branded dips, Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, Doritos tortilla chips, Fritos corn chips, Lay’s potato chips, and others. QFNA’s products include Cap’n Crunch cereal, Life cereal, Pearl Milling Company syrups and mixes, Quaker Chewy granola bars, Quaker grits, Quaker oatmeal and others. PBNA makes, markets and sells beverage concentrates and fountain syrups under various beverage brands, including Aquafina, Bubly, Diet Pepsi, Gatorade and others.
Stock Market Value: $211.28 billion ($154.32 per share)
Activist: Elliott Investment Management
Ownership: ~1.9%
Average Cost: n/a
Activist Commentary: Elliott is a multistrategy investment firm that manages about $76.1 billion in assets (as of June 30, 2025) and is one of the oldest firms of its type under continuous management. Known for its extensive due diligence and resources, Elliott regularly follows companies for years before making an investment. Elliott is the most active of activist investors, engaging with companies across industries and multiple geographies.
What’s happening
On Tuesday, Elliott sent a presentation and letter to the board of PepsiCo detailing the company’s opportunity to reaccelerate growth and improve performance through greater focus, improved operations, strategic reinvestment and enhanced accountability.
Behind the scenes
PepsiCo is one of the world’s largest consumer packaged goods companies, with a portfolio of some of the most iconic brands in food and beverage. Globally, the company is the number one player in snacking and the number two player in beverages trailing only Coca-Cola.
Pepsi is divided between its North America business (60% of revenue) and International (40%). Within North America, its segments are PepsiCo Foods North America and PepsiCo Beverages North America, each of which account for about 30% of the company’s total revenue. Frito-Lay North America, which makes up about 90% of PFNA, is the dominant leader in salty snacks and a consistent growth driver. PBNA has a portfolio of iconic brands, like its flagship Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Gatorade, and a reach that rivals Coca-Cola in a very attractive and high-margin end market. Despite its scale, brand strength and track record of growth, Pepsi’s stock has underperformed, losing almost $40 billion in market cap over the past three years and trailing its benchmark, the S&P Consumer Staples…
Read More: Elliott’s plan for PepsiCo includes investing in some of its iconic brands,
