Pepsico (PEP) PT Lowered to $178 at Piper Sandler Amid 2027 Cost Pressure
Piper Sandler analyst Michael Lavery lowered the price target on Pepsico (NASDAQ: PEP) to $178.00 (from $181.00) while maintaining an Overweight rating.
The analyst commented: "We continue to like PEP's brands and ability to return to sustainable growth, but we do recognize that its trajectory may be a bit lumpy, and cost pressures are growing. Nearterm, it has slower than expected distribution momentum in salty snacks portfolio, though we expect improvement as more innovation continues to launch and as some delayed shelf resets get done. It also has some mounting input cost pressure as elevated costs (oil and its derivatives, aluminum, etc.) remain in place long enough to impact its 2027 cost basket (it mostly hedges 6-9 months out). We maintain our $8.65 2026E EPS, but lower our 2027E EPS from $9.25 to $9.13 and our price target from $181 to $178 (still ~19.5x 2027E EPS)."