PEP · Consumer staples(beverages) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-27
Pepsico Inc reported revenue of $93.9 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 4.6% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin narrowed from 15.6% in 2016 to 12.2%, and it earned 13.4% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $110.8 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 52.3% went to dividends and 38.7% back into the business; the share count fell 5.4%. On the accounting screens, it passes 5 of 9 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 2.88 is in the safe zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; none of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 202593.9B+4.6% a year over 9 years
Operating margin12.2%gross margin 54.1%
Return on invested capital13.4%15.6% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay7.4B7.9% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA2.7×net debt 40.0B
Piotroski F-score5/9tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
025.0B50.0B75.0B100.0B
2016Revenue 62.8BOperating income 9.8B
2017Revenue 63.5BOperating income 10.3B
2018Revenue 64.7BOperating income 10.1B
2019Revenue 67.2BOperating income 10.3B
2020Revenue 70.4BOperating income 10.1B
2021Revenue 79.5BOperating income 11.2B
2022Revenue 86.4BOperating income 11.5B
2023Revenue 91.5BOperating income 12.0B
2024Revenue 91.9BOperating income 12.9B
2025Revenue 93.9BOperating income 11.5B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+2.8%
+5.9%
+4.6%
Operating income
-0.0%
+2.7%
+1.8%
Net income
-2.6%
+3.0%
+3.0%
Earnings per share
-2.2%
+3.2%
+3.6%
Free cash flow per share
+11.4%
+4.1%
+0.7%
Dividend per share
+7.7%
+7.0%
+7.5%
Shares
-0.3%
-0.3%
-0.6%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 5.9%
0.0%5.0%10.0%15.0%20.0%
2016Return on invested capital 15.2%
2017Return on invested capital 10.4%
2018Return on invested capital 13.7%
2019Return on invested capital 17.3%
2020Return on invested capital 13.8%
2021Return on invested capital 15.5%
2022Return on invested capital 17.2%
2023Return on invested capital 15.4%
2024Return on invested capital 16.7%
2025Return on invested capital 13.4%
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Economic profit
02.0B4.0B6.0B8.0B
2016Economic profit 4.4B
2017Economic profit 2.3B
2018Economic profit 3.6B
2019Economic profit 5.3B
2020Economic profit 4.5B
2021Economic profit 5.4B
2022Economic profit 6.3B
2023Economic profit 5.9B
2024Economic profit 6.7B
2025Economic profit 5.2B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
40.4%
Return on assets
7.7%
Asset turnover
0.87×
Research & development
0.9% of revenue
Overheads (SG&A)
39.8% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
05.0B10.0B15.0B
2016Net income 6.3BFree cash flow 7.6BAfter stock-based pay 7.3B
2017Net income 4.9BFree cash flow 7.1BAfter stock-based pay 6.8B
2018Net income 12.5BFree cash flow 6.1BAfter stock-based pay 5.9B
2019Net income 7.3BFree cash flow 5.4BAfter stock-based pay 5.2B
2020Net income 7.1BFree cash flow 6.4BAfter stock-based pay 6.1B
2021Net income 7.6BFree cash flow 7.0BAfter stock-based pay 6.7B
2022Net income 8.9BFree cash flow 5.6BAfter stock-based pay 5.3B
2023Net income 9.1BFree cash flow 7.9BAfter stock-based pay 7.5B
2024Net income 9.6BFree cash flow 7.2BAfter stock-based pay 6.8B
2025Net income 8.2BFree cash flow 7.7BAfter stock-based pay 7.4B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2016–2025
110.8B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 39%42.8B
Acquisitions 0%0
Dividends 52%58.0B
Share buybacks 15%16.6B
More than it generated: funded with cash or new debt -6%-6.6B
Over the same years it paid 3.0B in stock. The share count fell 5.4%. 13.6B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0.00$2.50$5.00$7.50$10.00
2016Earnings per share $4.36Free cash flow per share $5.25Dividend per share $2.91
2017Earnings per share $3.38Free cash flow per share $4.91Dividend per share $3.11
2018Earnings per share $8.78Free cash flow per share $4.30Dividend per share $3.46
2019Earnings per share $5.20Free cash flow per share $3.85Dividend per share $3.77
2020Earnings per share $5.11Free cash flow per share $4.58Dividend per share $3.96
2021Earnings per share $5.48Free cash flow per share $5.03Dividend per share $4.19
2022Earnings per share $6.42Free cash flow per share $4.04Dividend per share $4.45
2023Earnings per share $6.56Free cash flow per share $5.73Dividend per share $4.83
2024Earnings per share $6.95Free cash flow per share $5.22Dividend per share $5.25
2025Earnings per share $6.00Free cash flow per share $5.59Dividend per share $5.56
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
1.4B1.4B1.4B1.4B1.4B1.5B
2016Diluted shares 1.5B
2017Diluted shares 1.4B
2018Diluted shares 1.4B
2019Diluted shares 1.4B
2020Diluted shares 1.4B
2021Diluted shares 1.4B
2022Diluted shares 1.4B
2023Diluted shares 1.4B
2024Diluted shares 1.4B
2025Diluted shares 1.4B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
020.0B40.0B60.0B
2016Net debt 27.8B
2017Net debt 28.7B
2018Net debt 23.6B
2019Net debt 26.6B
2020Net debt 36.0B
2021Net debt 34.7B
2022Net debt 34.1B
2023Net debt 34.4B
2024Net debt 35.8B
2025Net debt 40.0B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
2.7×
Interest coverage
10× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
0.85 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
—
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
5of 9 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✕Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforefailed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
✕Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fellfailed
✓More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforepassed
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
✕Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year beforefailed
✕Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforefailed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
2.88safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets -0.04 × 6.56-0.29
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.68 × 3.26+2.21
Operating income ÷ assets 0.11 × 6.72+0.72
Equity ÷ liabilities 0.23 × 1.05+0.25
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-2.62below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)+0.92
Gross margin slipping 1.01+0.53
Soft assets 1.01+0.41
Sales growth 1.02+0.91
Slower depreciation 0.98+0.11
Overheads vs sales 0.98-0.17
Profit not in cash -0.04-0.17
Leverage rising 1.01-0.33
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
None of the six cross-checks fires for the latest year: receivables and inventory move with revenue, profit turns into cash, investment keeps up with depreciation, the tax rate is ordinary and debt is moderate.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
Value per share, with these assumptions$167.24discounted at 5.9% a year · 73% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
27.9×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
18.0×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
2.9×
Free cash flow yield
3.2%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today73.4B
Everything after, today196.3B
The whole business269.6B
Minus net debt-40.0B
What belongs to shareholders229.6B
Divided among 1.4B shares: <strong>$167.24</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
05.0B10.0B15.0B
2016Reported 7.3B
2017Reported 6.8B
2018Reported 5.9B
2019Reported 5.2B
2020Reported 6.1B
2021Reported 6.7B
2022Reported 5.3B
2023Reported 7.5B
2024Reported 6.8B
2025Reported 7.4B
2026Projected 8.2B
2027Projected 8.7B
2028Projected 9.2B
2029Projected 9.6B
2030Projected 10.0B
2031Projected 10.4B
2032Projected 10.8B
2033Projected 11.2B
2034Projected 11.5B
2035Projected 11.8B
2016201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
99.6B
105.1B
110.6B
116.0B
121.1B
126.1B
130.7B
135.0B
138.9B
142.3B
Growth
6.0%
5.6%
5.2%
4.8%
4.4%
4.1%
3.7%
3.3%
2.9%
2.5%
Cash margin
8.3%
8.3%
8.3%
8.3%
8.3%
8.3%
8.3%
8.3%
8.3%
8.3%
Free cash flow
8.2B
8.7B
9.2B
9.6B
10.0B
10.4B
10.8B
11.2B
11.5B
11.8B
Worth today
7.8B
7.7B
7.7B
7.6B
7.5B
7.4B
7.2B
7.0B
6.8B
6.6B
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
5.0%
174
205
248
314
424
5.5%
148
171
201
243
308
5.9%
128
145
167
197
238
6.5%
112
125
142
164
193
7.0%
99
109
123
139
160
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
6.6%
107
119
133
148
163
7.4%
121
135
150
166
184
8.3%
135
151
167
185
205
9.1%
149
166
184
204
225
9.9%
164
182
202
223
246
All the inputs moving at once
4,922 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.0%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$91.57
Median$165.55
90th percentile$317.68
$200.00$400.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$122.57</b> and <b>$231.42</b>; one in ten below $91.57, one in ten above $317.68.
Does the long run make sense?
15.4×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 15.4 times that year's EBITDA.
15%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 17% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 15% on the new capital — it has earned 16% on average over the last five years.
73%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.