Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) issued Q4 results on Tuesday. On a reported basis, the company made 40 cents per share. Last year at this time, there was a loss of $1.28 per share. In addition to that good news, Earnings.com says that expectations hovered around 43 cents per share, a figure much less than the adjusted stat of 59 cents.

Unfortunately, the top line didn't budge, and total worldwide physical case volume for the full fiscal year was worse by 3%. The latter metric is key to a beverage business, and in some ways, ultimately more important than net income. And in terms of cash from operations, there wasn't much going on. For the twelve-month period, money generation was slightly down.

Continue reading Pepsi Bottling Group's Q4: Biding Time Before Merger

Pepsi Bottling Group's Q4: Biding Time Before Merger originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Net revenue decreased 1.5%. Earnings per share on an adjusted basis increased 2% to $1.08. This bottom-line result is representative of a nice beat against the analysts. They were projecting $1.02 per share for profit, according to Elizabeth Harrow's preview of the quarter.

Continue reading PepsiCo increases adjusted profit, beats the analysts in Q3

PepsiCo increases adjusted profit, beats the analysts in Q3 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Pepsi Bottling Group earnings miss expectations

Pepsi Bottling Group earnings miss expectations originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) closed at $59.03. PEP is scheduled to report Q3 EPS on October 8. PEP expects to close on the acquisition of Pepsi Americas (NYSE: PAS) and Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG) in early 2010. PEP October and January option implied volatility of 24 is near its 26-week average of 26, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) closed at $44.81. JPM is expected to report Q3 EPS on October 14. JPM October option implied volatility is at 44, November is at 40; below its 26-week average of 53, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement. Paul Foster

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: PepsiCo volatility flat into EPS and Gatorade outlook originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

PepsiAmericas (NYSE: PAS) accepted Pepsi (NYSE: PEP) offer of $28.50 in cash or 0.5022 shares PEP. PAS September option implied volatility of 20 is below its six-month average of 33, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG) accepted PEP offer of $36.50 per share in cash or 0.6432 in shares of PEP. PBG September option implied volatility of 13 is low according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: PepsiAmericas and Pepsi Bottling Group volatility decreases after Pepsi purchase originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading PepsiCo earnings preview

PepsiCo earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG), a beverage entity that competes with Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE), reported Q2 earnings on Wednesday. Adjusting for a gain related to tax issues, the company earned 78 cents per share.

According to Trey Thoelcke's earnings preview, Pepsi Bottling Group was only supposed to make about 73 cents per share. So, management managed to beat Wall Street's projections. Unfortunately, management made the same amount of per-share profit in the year-ago period, so there wasn't any growth on the bottom line.

Continue reading Pepsi Bottling Group beats earnings, but I'm not interested

Pepsi Bottling Group beats earnings, but I'm not interested originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As can be seen, if Stifel Nicolaus turns out to be right, then traders might have a winning transaction on their hands. But one thing that must be remembered is the arbitrage game going on here. Pepsi wants to buy Pepsi Bottling Group. The latter is, of course, arguing for a higher purchase price.

Continue reading PepsiCo's upgrade -- should you buy?

PepsiCo's upgrade -- should you buy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We're in the heat of earnings season, with many of the top 100 S&P 500 companies reporting this week. One name that slightly fizzled at its earnings report today was PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP), which announced first-quarter net results of $1.14 billion, or 72 cents per share, a 0.9% decline from previous year's levels.

On the plus side, the per-share result was a nickel better than analysts were expecting, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenue, on the other hand, slipped 0.8% lower to $8.26 billion, falling shy of expectations for $8.28 billion.

While the numbers didn't exactly wow the Street (PEP shares are slightly lower in early trading), they also didn't illustrate a significant fall-off from the previous year, despite company warnings that the first half of 2009 would face challenging year-over-year comparisons amid rising commodity costs and shifting foreign exchange rates.

Continue reading PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) bids for bottlers as earnings edge lower

PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) bids for bottlers as earnings edge lower originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), the arch rival of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), is set to report Q4 numbers on Thursday, February 12. Coke is estimated to earn 61 cents per share, a growth of about 5%. Is it doable? More importantly, will Coke be able to beat projections? I'd say it might, considering that the two major bottlers out there, Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG) and Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE), both beat on their respective bottom lines this week. Pepsi Bottling trounced expectations by 5 cents, and Coke's bottler did better by 3 cents.

Not that the quarter will have been a cake walk. There will be issues with currency translations and the global slowdown. Even though Coke sells products that are theoretically defensive against a recession, I imagine that guidance will be conservative, and I would bet that growth in case volume, a very important metric for beverage companies, will be down. I'll hope for the best, but I'm bracing myself for that outcome.

Continue reading Earnings preview: Will Coca-Cola's Q4 bubble to the top?

Earnings preview: Will Coca-Cola's Q4 bubble to the top? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Pepsi Bottling Group beats in Q4, is it a value?

Pepsi Bottling Group beats in Q4, is it a value? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE), the big bottler for Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), and a competitor of both PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) and Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG), is trying, like every company out there, to grapple with the recession. Sure, sodas and waters might seem like an attractive business to be in since people will still buy them in a down economy, but make no mistake about it -- Coca-Cola Enterprises needs to be on top of its game to protect those margins.

This leads me to this: According to Beverage World, Coca-Cola Enterprises wants a little more efficiency in its system. What corporate structure doesn't, right? So, management is taking a fresh look at the supply chain and the packaging it uses. Already, the company has shed 1,000 jobs and combined some units. Becoming leaner and working in a smarter fashion is key to keeping the bottom line steady and, hopefully, growing. It's only part of the picture, though. The logistics of distribution should be looked at, don't get me wrong. That obviously is the bottler's main function. Marketing, however, has to be stepped up as well. And that's Coca-Cola's job.

Continue reading Coca-Cola Enterprises needs efficiency -- and better marketing

Coca-Cola Enterprises needs efficiency -- and better marketing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG), a competitive colleague of Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE), reported earnings for the third quarter earlier in the week. I didn't find the release too exciting, to be honest. Revenues went up 2% to $3.8 billion. Earnings came in at $1.06 per share. In last year's quarter, Pepsi Bottling Group booked a bottom line equal to 98 cents per share, after adjustments. In terms of expectations, the company beat the analysts on Wall Street by two pennies better.

While an earnings beat is certainly a nice thing, let's take a look at what is perhaps one of the more important metrics when it comes to beverage manufacturers: case volume. I'm afraid there's nothing to write home about as far as this statistic is concerned. Case volume took a dive around the globe by a disappointing 6%. Management cited hard economic times as a contributing factor. Imagine that. You'd think that products found in the portfolios of Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) would be pretty defensive in a tough economic period. Apparently, Pepsi Bottling Group found it difficult to distribute more of its drinks this past quarter.

Long term, I think Pepsi Bottling Group will be okay. But I think both PepsiCo and Coke need to find better ways of convincing people to continue to drink their flagship carbonated beverages. They've been on the decline over the past several years. As a stock, Pepsi Bottling Group isn't on my watch list. I already own shares of Coke, but even with that bias, I can honestly say that I wouldn't want to enter the bottler at this time. I'm not impressed with either the growth or the year-to-date stock performance.

Disclosure: I own Coke; positions can change at any time.

Pepsi Bottling Group's Q3 doesn't make me a buyer originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG) issued its Q2 earnings numbers today, and the market apparently wasn't impressed. As of 2:45, the shares are off well over 4%.

The numbers weren't bad in some respects, but a couple areas weren't encouraging. Sales increased about 5%, and earnings per diluted share expanded by 12% to $0.78. That was more than enough to beat the analysts, who were looking for about $0.75 per share, according to Briefing.com. However, worldwide case volume declined 3%. Case volume is one of the most important metrics for a beverage company, so this is very disheartening. Also, cash from operations dropped to $89 million for the six-month period from a year-ago level of $158 million. There was no free cash flow, but management does expect positive free cash flow for the fiscal year.

Considering the bottler's forward guidance and dividend yield, the shares are somewhat cheap. But they are basically at a 52-week low in a bad market, so I wouldn't bother with them. When it comes to investing in the beverage sector, I prefer owning a PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) or a Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). In fact, I own the latter. Avoiding bottlers like Pepsi Bottling Group and Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) makes sense for the long-term since the bottlers will always have greater exposure to capital-expenditure requirements.

Disclosure: I own Coke; positions can change at any time.

Pepsi Bottling Group's shares hit by Wall Street after earnings report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I don't think I'll ever own a bottling group over a Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) or a PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP). The cash-flow and margin scenarios with the sellers of concentrate is a much better long-term story. With that bias stated, let me check out Pepsi Bottling Group's (NYSE: PBG) first-quarter results, which were reported on Wednesday.

Net sales expanded by 7% to $2.7 billion. On a reported basis, earnings per share didn't budge whatsoever -- it was 12 cents this year, and it was 12 cents last year. On an adjusted basis, earnings were 13 cents -- hey, a penny is a penny, I guess. In fact, I see that Briefing.com is reporting that Pepsi Bottling Group beat the Street's outlook by a penny. Talk about symmetry. Operational cash flow was flat, coming in at $20 million, which was a million bucks less than the operational cash flow seen in the previous year's comparable quarter (by the way, I know that the pun "flat" has been used way too many times when talking about a beverage concern). As can be seen, the bottler lost the growth game this time around. It's only the first quarter, though, so we'll have to wait and see how the rest of the year shapes up. Right now, the company expects earnings of $2.30 to $2.38 on an adjusted basis.

Now, I don't hate Pepsi Bottling Group or anything like that (well, except for the fact that it distributes products that compete with my beloved Coca-Cola company, shares of which I own); it's a respectable company linked to a powerful beverage brand, and it has been pretty good on the dividend-increasing front (it recently upped its quarterly payout by over 20%). But I've always been prone to PepsiCo and Coke since they don't have to deal with the capital requirements for distribution; instead, they are the big marketers supporting the bottlers. If you want exposure to sugar water, I figure you may want to check out those two businesses first.

Disclosure: I own shares of Coca-Cola; positions can change at any time.

Pepsi Bottling Group's Q1 doesn't taste too growthy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) did a little buying in the marketplace today. No, I'm not talking about share buybacks -- I'm talking about an acquisition in Russia.

PepsiCo teamed up with Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG) to take on a majority position in Russia's largest juice business, JSC Lebedyansky. The price tag was significant -- $1.4 billion (890 million euro). This AP news item indicates that it is the largest transaction for the beverage maker since its purchase of Quaker Oats.

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), watch out, because this is all about being competitive in the world marketplace, which means it's all about being competitive against you! It's also about hedging against the challenging growth rates in case volumes seen in the domestic marketplace, as well as taking on international exposure to gain the benefit of a weaker dollar. Consumer companies know that it's smart to think globally these days, so acquisitions like these take on major importance. Plus, PepsiCo cannot live on carbonated sodas alone, so any opportunity to broaden its portfolio base beyond its flagship brand is a welcome strategy (Coke knows this to be true, too).

It's difficult to argue that this is anything but a cool move -- I'd like to argue, since I own shares of Coca-Cola, but alas, I can't find a proper contrarian angle. So, nice move, Pepsi, you did good today, you got a decent asset in a growing international territory, and the price tag won't break the bank. But don't worry, my bubbly friend -- I'm sure Coke is taking note of this, seeing what it needs to do to remain competitive against you (at least, I hope that's what the brains in Atlanta are doing).

Disclosure: I own shares of Coca-Cola; positions can change at any time.

PepsiCo makes a purchase originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The world's largest maker of Pepsi-Cola beverages is not PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) itself, but a 1999 PepsiCo spin-off with the clearest mission statement in corporate America.

Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG) is engaged in the manufacture, sale and distribution of Pepsi-Cola beverages. The firm operates about 300 manufacturing and distribution facilities and delivers Pepsi-Cola, Aquafina water, Lipton's Iced Tea, Mountain Dew, Tropicana juice, Starbucks Frappuccino and Slice to stores and third-party distributors. PBG operates in North America and Europe, accounting for more than half of the Pepsi-Cola beverages sold in North America and about 40% of the worldwide volume. Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) is a major competitor.

There was good news for PBG investors last week, when Goldman Sachs raised its rating on the beverage group to "attractive." The analyst noted the potential for improved performance, as costs for most of the commodities used to make and bottle beverages stabilize.

Continue reading Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG): 'We Sell Soda'

Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG): 'We Sell Soda' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

So who is the world's largest manufacturer, seller and distributor of Pepsi-Cola beverages? Here's a hint. It is not PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP). It is, in fact, a 1999 PepsiCo spin-off headquartered in Somers, New York.

Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG) is engaged in the manufacture, sale and distribution of Pepsi-Cola beverages. The firm operates about 300 manufacturing and distribution facilities and delivers Pepsi-Cola, Dr Pepper, Aquafina water, Lipton's Iced Tea, Mountain Dew, Tropicana juice, Starbucks Frappuccino and Slice to stores and third-party distributors. PBG operates in North America and Europe, accounting for more than half of the Pepsi-Cola beverages sold in North America and about 40 percent of the worldwide volume. Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) is a major competitor.

The company pleased investors earlier in the week, when it reported Q2 EPS of $0.70 and revenues of $3.36 billion. Analysts had been expecting $0.63 and $3.29 billion. Management also guided FY07 EPS to $2.02-$2.07, versus Street consensus of $1.98. PBG shares popped into the initial stage of a bullish "pennant" consolidation pattern on the news. Prices frequently exit pennants moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the shares with three "strong buys," one "buy," ten "holds" and one "sell." The PBG P/E ratio (16.08), Price to Sales ratio (0.62), Price to Book ratio (3.64), Price to Cash Flow ratio (6.81), Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (29.56) and Return on Equity (24.91%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutions own about 58% of the outstanding shares. The stock is one of those used to calculate the S&P 500 Index. Over the past 52 weeks, it has traded between $30.13 and $36.47. A stop-loss of $31.35 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

Pepsi Bottling Group: "We Sell Soda" ... the clearest mission statement in corporate America originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Jul 2007 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.