** PepsiCo beat Wall Street expectations for first-quarter revenue and profit on Tuesday as demand for its sodas and snacks, like Cheetos and Doritos, in international markets drove growth even as it witnessed a slowdown in the United States
IMPROVING ORGANIC TRENDS
** Morgan Stanley ("overweight", PT: $190) says PEP's valuations could likely rebound, with investors eyeing improvement in trends through the year, as international growth comes into focus, comparisons ease, and sequential pricing pressure dissipates
** Views pullback in stock following results as "unfair"
** Evercore ISI ("in line", PT: $180) expects organic trends to improve from current qtr for PEP
** Notes global consumer environment is better than co's core market, even as U.S., Chinese consumers feel pressure
** Jefferies ("buy", PT: $209) says PEP's international business has meaningful growth runway with low per capita consumption and scalable technology, expecting the business to be key growth driver
** Expects snacks business to deliver +5% growth in H2
** J.P.Morgan ("neutral", PT: $181) sees relatively better opportunity in other non-alcoholic ready-to-drink brands like Coca-Cola and Keurig Dr Pepper Inc , as scope of upward organic sales growth revisions for PEP look limited
(Reporting by Roshan Abraham)
((Roshan.Abraham@thomsonreuters.com))
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