MMarketMath

PEP

StalwartQuality: High (70/100)2 red flags

PepsiCo · Consumer Staples · Soft Drinks & Non-alcoholic Beverages

$144.67

52w 133.73 – 171.48

20y monthly, adjusted

Mkt cap

$197.5B

P/E

23.8

P/FCF

25.5

FCF yield

3.9%

ROE

40.4%

Shldr yield

4.4%

div 3.9% + bb 0.5%

What today's price assumes

At $197.5B, the market is pricing in 11.0% annual free-cash-flow growth for the next decade (10% discount rate, 2.5% terminal growth). Over the last ten years, FCF actually grew -0.5% per year — the price asks for acceleration beyond the historical record.

Simple DCF per-share range: $62 · $62 · $77 (4% / base / optimistic growth). An estimate, not a target.

Adjust the assumptions yourself →

Historical multiple lens

At its own median P/OCF of 11.9× across 18 years, PEP would trade near $105/share (25th–75th percentile: $79–$140); it trades at 16.3× today.

Assumes the historical multiple regime persists — re-ratings can be permanent.

Growth record

Compound annual growth rates from as-filed 10-K data, split-adjusted

Rev 3y

+2.8%

Rev 5y

+5.9%

Rev 10y

+4.1%

EPS 5y

+3.2%

EPS 10y

+5.0%

FCF 5y

+3.8%

FCF 10y

−0.5%

Fundamentals

Fiscal 2007–2025, from SEC filings

Revenue

2007: $39.5B
2008: $43.3B
2009: $43.2B
2010: $57.8B
2011: $66.5B
2012: $65.5B
2013: $66.4B
2014: $66.7B
2015: $63.1B
2016: $62.8B
2017: $63.5B
2018: $64.7B
2019: $67.2B
2020: $70.4B
2021: $79.5B
2022: $86.4B
2023: $91.5B
2024: $91.9B
2025: $93.9B
$0$25.0B$50.0B$75.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Net income

2007: $5.7B
2008: $5.1B
2009: $5.9B
2010: $6.3B
2011: $6.4B
2012: $6.2B
2013: $6.7B
2014: $6.5B
2015: $5.5B
2016: $6.3B
2017: $4.9B
2018: $12.5B
2019: $7.3B
2020: $7.1B
2021: $7.6B
2022: $8.9B
2023: $9.1B
2024: $9.6B
2025: $8.2B
$0$5.0B$10.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Free cash flow

2007: $4.5B
2008: $4.6B
2009: $4.7B
2010: $5.2B
2011: $5.6B
2012: $5.8B
2013: $6.9B
2014: $7.6B
2015: $8.1B
2016: $7.6B
2017: $7.1B
2018: $6.1B
2019: $5.4B
2020: $6.4B
2021: $7.0B
2022: $5.6B
2023: $7.9B
2024: $7.2B
2025: $7.7B
$0$2.5B$5.0B$7.5B
07
11
15
19
23

Diluted shares (lower is better)

2008: 1.6B
2009: 1.6B
2010: 1.6B
2011: 1.6B
2012: 1.6B
2013: 1.6B
2014: 1.5B
2015: 1.5B
2016: 1.5B
2017: 1.4B
2018: 1.4B
2019: 1.4B
2020: 1.4B
2021: 1.4B
2022: 1.4B
2023: 1.4B
2024: 1.4B
2025: 1.4B
0500.0M1.0B1.5B
07
11
15
19
23

Margins

20%40%07101316192225
Net marginFCF marginGross margin

Capital returned (dividends + buybacks)

2007: $6.5B
2008: $7.3B
2009: $2.7B
2010: $8.0B
2011: $5.6B
2012: $6.5B
2013: $6.4B
2014: $8.7B
2015: $9.0B
2016: $7.2B
2017: $6.5B
2018: $6.9B
2019: $8.3B
2020: $7.5B
2021: $5.9B
2022: $7.7B
2023: $7.7B
2024: $8.2B
2025: $8.6B
$0$2.5B$5.0B$7.5B
07
11
15
19
23

Cash vs long-term debt

$0$20.0B$40.0B07101316192225
CashLT debt

Quarterly

Discrete quarters from 10-Q filings; Q4 derived as fiscal year minus Q1–Q3. OCF is unwound from the year-to-date figures 10-Qs report. Compare to the same quarter a year ago — most businesses are seasonal.

Revenue by quarter

Q2'23: $22.3B
Q3'23: $23.5B
Q4'23: $27.9B
Q1'24: $18.3B
Q2'24: $22.5B
Q3'24: $23.3B
Q4'24: $27.8B
Q1'25: $17.9B
Q2'25: $22.7B
Q3'25: $23.9B
Q4'25: $29.3B
Q1'26: $19.4B
Q2'26: $24.2B
$0$10.0B$20.0B
23
24
24
25
26

Net income by quarter

Q2'23: $2.7B
Q3'23: $3.1B
Q4'23: $1.3B
Q1'24: $2.0B
Q2'24: $3.1B
Q3'24: $2.9B
Q4'24: $1.5B
Q1'25: $1.8B
Q2'25: $1.3B
Q3'25: $2.6B
Q4'25: $2.5B
Q1'26: $2.3B
Q2'26: $3.0B
$0$1.0B$2.0B$3.0B
23
24
24
25
26
QuarterRevenueYoYNet incomeYoYEPSOCF
Q2'26$24.2B+6.4%$3.0B+136.0%2.18
Q1'26$19.4B+8.5%$2.3B+26.9%1.70$41.0M
Q4'25 *$29.3B+5.6%$2.5B+66.8%1.85
Q3'25$23.9B+2.7%$2.6B−11.2%1.90
Q2'25$22.7B+1.0%$1.3B−59.0%0.92
Q1'25$17.9B−1.8%$1.8B−10.2%1.33−$973.0M
Q4'24 *$27.8B−0.2%$1.5B+17.0%1.11
Q3'24$23.3B−0.6%$2.9B−5.2%2.13
Q2'24$22.5B+0.8%$3.1B+12.2%2.23
Q1'24$18.3B+2.3%$2.0B+5.7%1.48−$1.0B
Q4'23 *$27.9B−0.5%$1.3B+151.4%0.93
Q3'23$23.5B+6.7%$3.1B+14.4%2.24
Q2'23$22.3B+10.4%$2.7B+92.3%1.99

Track record

Compound annual growth by period. For debt and share count, negative is the good direction.

Series3y5y10y15y
Revenue+2.8%+5.9%+4.1%+3.3%
Operating cash flow+3.8%+2.6%+1.1%+2.4%
Free cash flow+11.0%+3.8%−0.5%+2.6%
EPS (diluted)−2.2%+3.2%+5.0%+2.9%
Equity+6.0%+8.7%+5.4%−0.3%
LT debt+5.9%+0.9%+3.8%+5.1%
Diluted shares−0.3%−0.3%−0.8%−1.1%
Stock price−3.6%+1.6%+6.2%+8.7%

$100, 3 years ago

$90vs $176 in SPY

-3.6% vs 20.7%/yr

$100, 5 years ago

$108vs $181 in SPY

1.6% vs 12.6%/yr

$100, 10 years ago

$183vs $412 in SPY

6.2% vs 15.2%/yr

$100, 15 years ago

$350vs $813 in SPY

8.7% vs 15.0%/yr

The $1 test — market value created per $1 of earnings retained (Buffett's hurdle: at least $1)

Last 5 years

$4.76

$47.1B created / $9.9B retained

Last 10 years

$4.24

$99.9B created / $23.6B retained

Quality & capital discipline

Cash-based returns and how management deploys capital

Cash ROIC

19.3%

OCF ÷ (equity + debt)

OCF / EV yield

5.3%

MC vs 10× OCF

1.62

≤1 = priced under 10× OCF

Debt / FCF

5.5y

SBC / FCF

3.8%

Owner earnings

$7.4B

OCF − capex − SBC

OE yield

3.8%

Share count 5y

−0.9%

per year; negative = buybacks

Capital intensity

31.8%

net PP&E ÷ revenue

Sales efficiency

$0.36

new PP&E per $1 new revenue, 5y

Growth engine (5y): reinvested 13.1% of operating cash flow at an incremental return of 18.6% — an organically fundable growth rate of about 2.4% per year (growth ≈ reinvestment rate × incremental ROIC).

Checklist

19 of 27 checks pass · 70%. Checks with structurally missing inputs are excluded.

Growth & Consistency

4/7

  • Revenue growth

    5.9% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • EPS growth

    3.2% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    fail
  • FCF growth

    3.8% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    fail
  • Revenue rises consistently

    9 of 9 · up in ≥ 7 of last 10 years

    pass
  • FCF consistently positive

    10 of 10 · positive in ≥ 8 of last 10 years

    pass
  • Profitable every year

    10 of 10 · net income > 0 in ≥ 8 of last 10

    pass
  • Cash flow keeps up with sales

    2.6% vs 5.9% · OCF CAGR ≥ 0.9× revenue CAGR

    fail

Profitability

7/7

  • Net margin

    8.8% · ≥ 8%

    pass
  • Operating margin

    12.2% · ≥ 10%

    pass
  • Gross margin stable or rising

    54.1% vs 53.0% · no drop > 2 pts over 3y

    pass
  • Return on equity

    40.4% · ≥ 12%

    pass
  • Cash ROIC

    19.3% · ≥ 12%

    pass
  • FCF margin

    8.2% · ≥ 5%

    pass
  • Earnings back their cash

    OCF $12.1B vs NI $8.2B · OCF ≥ net income (latest FY)

    pass

Balance Sheet

2/5

  • Debt payable from cash flow

    5.5y · LT debt ≤ 3× FCF

    fail
  • Cash cushion

    22% · cash ≥ 50% of LT debt

    fail
  • Leverage

    2.07 · LT debt ≤ 1.5× equity

    fail
  • Equity positive and compounding

    $20.4B · equity > 0 and grew over ~5y

    pass
  • Interest burden

    10% · interest ≤ 15% of operating income

    pass

Capital Allocation

3/4

  • Share count flat or shrinking

    -0.9% · ≤ +0.5%/yr over ~5y

    pass
  • Stock comp restrained

    4% · SBC ≤ 15% of FCF

    pass
  • Distributions funded by FCF

    113% · dividends + buybacks ≤ 100% of FCF

    fail
  • Repurchases are a habit

    10 of 10 · buybacks in ≥ 5 of last 10 years

    pass

Valuation Discipline

3/4

  • FCF yield

    3.9% · ≥ 3%

    pass
  • Earnings multiple

    23.8 · P/E ≤ 25

    pass
  • Price asks less than history delivered

    11.0% vs -0.5% · implied FCF growth ≤ historical FCF CAGR

    fail
  • Shareholder yield

    4.4% · dividends + buybacks ≥ 2% of market cap

    pass

Red flags

Mechanical checks — a flag is a question to investigate, not a verdict

Heavy debt load

Long-term debt exceeds 5 years of free cash flow.

Distributions exceed FCF

Dividends plus buybacks exceeded free cash flow in the latest fiscal year.

Financial data

As filed in 10-Ks; per-share figures split-adjusted. $ in millions.

FYRevenueGross profitOp incomeNet incomeEPSOCFCapExFCFDividendsBuybacksSBCCashLT debtEquityShares
202593,92550,85911,4988,2406.0012,0874,4157,6727,6381,0002889,15942,32120,4061,373
202491,85450,11012,8879,5786.9512,5075,3187,1897,2291,0003628,50537,22418,0411,378
202391,47149,59011,9869,0746.5613,4425,5187,9246,6821,0003809,71137,59518,5031,383
202286,39245,81611,5128,9106.4210,8115,2075,6046,1721,5003434,95435,65717,1491,387
202179,47442,39911,1627,6185.4911,6164,6256,9915,8151063015,59636,02616,0431,389
202070,37238,57510,0807,1205.1210,6134,2406,3735,5092,0002648,18540,37013,4541,392
201967,16137,02910,2917,3145.209,6494,2325,4175,3043,0002375,50929,14814,7861,407
201864,66135,28010,11012,5158.789,4153,2826,1334,9302,0002568,72128,29514,5181,425
201763,52534,72910,2764,8573.3810,0302,9697,0614,4722,00029210,61033,79611,0451,438
201662,79934,5779,8046,3294.3610,6633,0407,6234,2273,0002849,15830,05311,2461,452
201563,05634,3258,3535,4523.6710,8642,7588,1064,0405,0002959,09629,21312,0681,485
201466,68335,4459,5816,5134.2710,5062,8597,6473,7305,0122976,13423,82117,5781,527
201366,41535,1729,7056,7404.329,6882,7956,8933,4343,0013039,37524,33324,4091,560
201265,49234,2019,1126,1783.928,4792,7145,7653,3053,2192786,29723,54422,4171,575
201166,5049,6336,4434.038,9443,3395,6053,1572,4893264,06720,56820,7041,597
201057,8388,3326,3203.918,4483,2535,1952,9784,9782995,94319,99921,2731,614
200943,2328,0445,9463.776,7962,1284,6682,73202273,9437,40016,9081,577
200843,2516,9595,1423.216,9992,4464,5532,5414,7202382,0647,85812,2031,602
200739,4747,1825,6583.416,9342,4304,5042,2044,30026091017,296

Some concepts are structurally absent for certain industries (banks report no gross profit or capex). Missing ≠ zero.