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BNP Paribas analyst Kevin Grundy maintains PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) with a Outperform and lowers the price target from $183 to $161.
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Among three Dividend Kings—Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Altria—analyst recommends buying Coca-Cola and Altria while avoiding PepsiCo. Coca-Cola's asset-light model and diversification provide reliable income, while Altria's expansion into smoke-free products offers growth potential. PepsiCo's asset-heavy beverage business and struggling packaged foods segment face more significant near-term challenges despite attractive valuation.
PepsiCo will report Q3 earnings Oct. 8, with analysts expecting $2.30 EPS and $25B revenue; shares closed down 1.6% at $128.15.
The article compares e.l.f. Beauty and Monster Beverage as investment options for 2026. e.l.f. Beauty demonstrates faster growth (24.6% revenue growth, 36% in recent quarter) with a lower valuation but faces competitive pressures and heavy acquisition integration costs. Monster Beverage offers stable profitability (23% net margin), global scale, and no debt, with consistent double-digit growth across all regions. The author recommends Monster Beverage for investors seeking reliable execution and broad market resilience, while acknowledging e.l.f. Beauty's impressive growth trajectory.
Monster Beverage has been a strong long-term performer with 18% average annual gains over 15 years, but the article suggests investors should pause at current valuations. The stock's forward P/E ratio of 34 exceeds its 5-year average of 31, and its price-to-sales ratio of 9.5 is above the 5-year average of 8.4. The company faces headwinds from increased competition by PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper in the energy beverage market, consumer pullback due to inflation, and analyst downgrades of 2027 revenue growth estimates to 10%. However, Monster's capital-light business model and strong distribution partnership with Coca-Cola remain positive factors.