JPMorgan is adopting a more bullish stance on shares of PepsiCo . The bank upgraded the food and beverage giant to an overweight rating from neutral. It also lifted its December 2026 price target to $164 from $151, which implies upside of 13%. Analyst Andrea Teixeira said that she sees PepsiCo delivering earnings in the mid- to high-single digit range next year, citing more aggressive productivity targets and an improving top line. This record productivity should allow for reinvestment and a flow-through in profit, she added. PEP YTD mountain PEP YTD chart “We are upgrading PepsiCo to Overweight from Neutral as we believe an accelerated agenda of innovation and marketing spending fueled by strong productivity savings should position PEP to drive HSD total shareholder return (TSR) in 2026, which benchmarks well against high-quality peers yet at a steep high-teens discount,” the analyst wrote. Teixeira also sees PepsiCo benefiting from additional shelf space and affordability initiatives next year. She called PepsiCo’s 2026 guidance “constructive” alongside improving consumption trends in U.S. snacking. “Management also noted that in testing with its largest three customers over the past three months that its everyday value efforts have seen ‘very good metrics’ and confidence that ‘volume will come,’ which we take to mean that the company has seen favorable elasticities to its efforts,” she added. Shares of PepsiCo have slipped 5% this year. The stock also ticked higher by around 1% after the upgrade. Most analysts covering PepsiCo are on the sidelines despite JPMorgan’s rating change. Of the 26 who cover the stock, 17 rate it as a hold, LSEG data shows. Another eight assigned it a buy or strong buy rating, and one has a hold rating on the stock.
