PepsiCo expressed confidence Thursday that new products — including protein-infused Starbucks coffee, low-sugar Gatorade and Doritos with all-natural ingredients — will boost flagging consumer demand in the coming year.
Rapidly changing consumer preferences have dogged the maker of Frito-Lay snacks and Pepsi beverages. PepsiCo said Thursday that its food business revenue fell 3% in North America in the third quarter.
But PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said Thursday that the company is moving quickly to cut underperforming products and reinvest in new ones, including a “NKD” line of Doritos and Cheetos with no artificial flavors or colors. Tostitos and Lay's chips with no artificial dyes will soon be on sale in the U.S.
“Innovation is critical for us, and we’ve been working with a real sense of urgency on new platforms to capture segments of the market that are disproportionately growing,” Laguarta said during a conference call with investors.
PepsiCo is already seeing good results from innovation on the beverage side. Pepsi Zero Sugar saw double-digit net revenue growth in the July-September period, the company said, while Mountain Dew sales got a boost from new flavors like Summer Freeze and Dragon Fruit. PepsiCo said its North American beverage revenue rose 2% in the third quarter.
PepsiCo said its total revenue rose 2.6% to $23.94 billion in the July-September period. That was better than the $23.84 billion Wall Street was expecting, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
Net income fell 11% to $2.6 billion. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $2.29 per share. That also beat analysts’ forecasts of $2.26.
PepsiCo shares rose nearly 3% in afternoon trading.
The company, based in Purchase, New York, has been under some pressure from Elliott Investment Management, an activist investor that recently took a $4 billion stake in PepsiCo.
In a letter sent to PepsiCo’s board last month, Elliott said the company has been hurt by loss of market share in its North American beverage business and slowing growth and weaker profits in its North American food business.
Elliott wants PepsiCo to slim down its food and beverage portfolio so it can reinvest in core brands. It also wants the company to consider refranchising its North American bottlers, a process that its rival Coca-Cola completed in the U.S. in 2017.
Laguarta said Thursday that his discussions with Elliott have been “very constructive and collaborative."
“We’re trying to understand each other. I think we’re aligned on one thing, which is critical, which is PepsiCo is undervalued,” he said.
Laguarta said PepsiCo will consider refranchising, which might work in some geographic locations better than others. But he said PepsiCo also sees a future of increased online sales and delivery demand and technology that will make warehouse operations even more efficient.
“We need to solve for the demands of the future that will be different from the demands of the past,” he said. “We can eliminate some of the human bottlenecks in ways that we couldn’t do before.”
Also on Thursday, PepsiCo named Walmart executive Steve Schmitt as its new chief financial officer. Schmitt was the CFO for Walmart's U.S. division.
Current PepsiCo CFO Jamie Caulfield plans to retire on Nov. 10 after more than 30 years with the company. He will remain at PepsiCo until May 15 in an advisory role.
FILE - Bottles of Pepsi are displayed at a grocery store in Mount Prospect, Ill., Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
Damien Browne, vice president of research and development for PepsiCo's beverages, is interviewed at the company's R&D Campus, in Valhalla, NY, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda’s presidential election was plagued by widespread delays Thursday in addition to a days-long internet shutdown that has been criticized as an anti-democratic tactic in a country where the president has held office since 1986.
Some polling stations remained closed for up to four hours after the scheduled 7 a.m. start time due to “technical challenges," according to the nation's electoral commission, which asked polling officers to use paper registration records to ensure the difficulties did not “disenfranchise any voter.”
President Yoweri Museveni, 81, faces seven other candidates, including Robert Kyagulanyi, a musician-turned-politician best known as Bobi Wine, who is calling for political change.
The East African country of roughly 45 million people has 21.6 million registered voters. Polls are expected to close at 4 p.m. Thursday, according to the electoral commission. Results are constitutionally required to be announced in 48 hours.
Impatient crowds gathered outside polling stations expressing concerns over the delays Thursday morning. Umaru Mutyaba, a polling agent for a parliamentary candidate, said it was “frustrating” to be waiting outside a station in the capital Kampala.
“We can’t be standing here waiting to vote as if we have nothing else to do," he said.
Wine alleged there was electoral fraud occurring, noting that biometric voter identification machines were not working at polling places and claiming there was “ballot stuffing.”
“Our leaders, including Deputy President for Western Region, arrested. Many of our polling agents and supervisors abducted, and others chased off polling stations,” Wine wrote in a post on social media platform X.
Museveni told journalists he was notfied biometric machines were inoperable at some stations and he supported the electoral body's decision to revert to paper registration records. He did not comment on the allegation of fraud.
Ssemujju Nganda, a prominent opposition figure and lawmaker seeking reelection in Kira municipality, told The Associated Press he had been waiting in line to vote for three hours.
Nganda also noted biometric machines were malfunctioning, in addition to the late arrival of balloting materials, and predicted the delays likely would lead to apathy and low turnout in urban areas where the opposition has substantial support.
"It’s going to be chaos,” he said Thursday morning.
Nicholas Sengoba, an independent analyst and newspaper columnist, said delays to the start of voting in urban, opposition areas favored the ruling party.
Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.
Museveni has served the third-longest term of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. Some critics say removing him through elections remains difficult, but the aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
Museveni and Wine are reprising their rivalry from the previous election in 2021, when Wine appealed to mostly young people in urban areas. With voter turnout of 59%, Wine secured 35% of the ballots against Museveni’s 58%, the president’s smallest vote share since his first electoral campaign three decades ago.
The lead-up to Thursday's election produced concerns about transparency, the possibility of hereditary rule, military interference and opposition strategies to prevent vote tampering at polling stations.
Uganda's internet was shut down Tuesday by the government communications agency, which cited misinformation, electoral fraud and incitement of violence. The shutdown has affected the public and disrupted critical sectors such as banking.
There has been heavy security leading up to voting, including military units deployed on the streets this week.
Amnesty International said security forces are engaging in a “brutal campaign of repression,” citing a Nov. 28 opposition rally in eastern Uganda where the military blocked exits and opened fire on supporters, killing one person.
Museveni urged voters to come out in large numbers during his final rally Tuesday.
“You go and vote, anybody who tries to interfere with your freedom will be crushed. I am telling you this. We are ready to put an end to this indiscipline,” he said.
The national electoral commission chairperson, Simon Byabakama, urged tolerance among Ugandans as they vote.
“Let us keep the peace that we have,” Byabakama said late Wednesday. “Let us be civil. Let us be courteous. Let’s be tolerant. Even if you know that this person does not support (your) candidate, please give him or her room or opportunity to go and exercise his or her constitutional right."
Authorities also suspended the activities of several civic groups during the campaign season. That Group, a prominent media watchdog, closed its office Wednesday after the interior ministry alleged in a letter that the group was involved in activities “prejudicial to the security and laws of Uganda.”
Veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, remains in prison after he was charged with treason in February 2025.
Uganda opposition presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known as Bobi Wine, right, greets election observers, including former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, at his home in Magere village on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)
Billboards of Uganda President and National Resistance Movement (NRM) presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni are seen in Kampala, Uganda, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno)
Electoral workers deliver ballot boxes to a polling station during presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Voters are reflected in a police officer's sunglasses as they wait in line after voting failed to start on time due to system failures during presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Voters wait to cast their ballots during the presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
