PepsiCo Inc (PEP.N) tempered its full-year outlook on Thursday due to economic uncertainty, sending its shares down nearly 2 percent in trading before the market opened. The maker of Pepsi-Cola, Frito-Lay snacks and Quaker oatmeal said performance in its North American beverage business was worse than it expected, due to weakened consumer demand and intensifying competition, which has made it difficult to raise prices to offset soaring commodity costs. "Of the three factors impacting North America beverages -- inflation, consumer demand and pricing -- the consumer demand picture is the most concerning to us at this point," Chief Executive Indra Nooyi told analysts on a conference call. "In fact, the modest pickup in total consumer spending almost all U.S. businesses saw earlier in the year has reversed in the past several months." Morningstar analyst Philip Gorham said he was not surprised that Pepsi adjusted its outlook.
PepsiCo, Inc. (PepsiCo) is a global food, snack and beverage company. Shares of PEP remained unchanged at $68.49. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $62.05 and as high as $71.89. On average, 6288000 shares of PEP exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 19952.
