PepsiCo reported better-than-expected revenue in the third quarter despite lackluster North American demand.
Net revenue rose 5.6% to $25.27 billion in the July-September period. Wall Street had expected revenue of $24.95, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
The company, based in Purchase, New York, said its global snack food volumes increased 4%, the highest rate of growth since 2021. That was largely due to its international business, which makes up 41% of the company's revenue.
World Cup-related demand for Lay's snacks was strong, the company said, and PepsiCo gained share in key markets like China and Brazil. Snack food volumes rose 11% in the Asia Pacific region, PepsiCo said.
Fast-growing categories include snacks with simpler ingredients, like Doritos and Gatorade Lower Sugar with no artificial colors or flavors, as well as protein-enhanced snacks, the company said.
But PepsiCo's North American results were weaker, with Frito-Lay snack food volumes flat compared to the same period last year and beverage volumes down 2%. PepsiCo said growth in sales of U.S. salty snacks was offset by sales declines in Canada.
PepsiCo said it's prioritizing innovation and more effective marketing to improve business in North America. The company said it is also planning to cut corporate costs and will begin other initiatives not directly tied to sales growth in the coming months.
PepsiCo lowered its earnings expectations for the year, saying it now expects adjusted earnings per share to grow 2.5% to 3.5%. Previously it had expected growth between 5% and 7%. The company now expects full-year revenue growth of 6%, the high end of earlier forecasts of between 4% and 6%.
Net income rose 17% to $3.07 billion in the third quarter. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $2.34 per share. That was higher than the $2.29 per-share profit analysts expected.
PepsiCo share rose 1% in pre-market trading Thursday.
FILE - Plastic bottles of Pepsi are displayed at a grocery store in New York on Nov. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
LONDON (AP) — A 22-year-old British man arrested on suspicion of plotting a terror attack following a security incident at a U.S.-run military air base in England has been released on bail, authorities said Thursday.
The suspect, who was not named, is the seventh man bailed in the investigation of an apparent plot aimed at RAF Fairford air base, which has been used by American bombers to strike Iran.
British authorities have linked Tehran to the incident that led the U.S. to pull its bombers from RAF Fairford on Sunday.
The Trump administration believed the base faced Iranian threats intended to kill as many American troops and destroy as many U.S. planes as possible, according to a U.S. official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the U.K. sees “strong indications” that Iran played a part in the incident. He did not provide details about what the suspects were planning or why the U.K. thinks Iran was involved.
Iran has denied involvement, although it has previously said that it considers any base used to attack its territory a legitimate target.
Police are continuing to investigate the incident that led to scores of residents being evacuated from their homes near the base on Sept. 27 as armed police officers and army bomb-disposal experts swarmed the rural area.
Police later said they had found a quantity of an accelerant — gasoline — in three vans linked to the initial five suspects, but no explosives.
All the suspects arrested have been in their 20s and six have been British nationals while one is a dual U.K.-Iranian citizen.
The U.K.-owned base, 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of London, was used by American B-1 and B-52 bombers during the Iran war.
The British government allowed the U.S. military to use RAF Fairford for what it called defensive strikes on Iranian missiles and their launch sites following Iranian attacks on U.K. interests and Britain’s allies in the Gulf.
A B-1 bomber takes off from RAF Fairford in Fairford, England, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
