PepsiCo, founded in 1898, produces and sells food, snacks, and beverages around the world. The company's brands include Lay's, Santitas, Ruffles, Doritos, Tostitos, Cheetos, Quaker Oatmeal, and Rice-A-Roni; its beverage portfolio includes Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Lipton, Brisk, and various bottled-water products. The company also provides tea and coffee products through a joint venture with Starbucks and Unilever. The company has approximately 306,000 employees. The shares are a component of the S&P 500.

Stock are solidly higher at midday on Friday, with the S&P 500 up about 1.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average up about 2%, and the Nasdaq Composite up about 1.5%. Earnings season has managed to grab the attention of investors, as should be the case at this point on the calendar, as the ongoing war in Iran is becoming less of a worry, at least for Wall Street. Iran has announced that the Strait of Hormuz is 'completely open' and there are expectations that diplomatic talks will start up again over the coming weekend. Meanwhile, a ceasefire is in place between Israel and Lebanon and appears to be holding. Turning back to stocks and with a focus on sectors, Consumer Discretionary is atop the leader board today, up over 3% as of this writing, followed by Industrials (+2.15%), and Information Technology (+1.81%). On the bottom of the sector-performance list for the day is (no surprise) Energy. The sector is off about 4.4% today as crude oil is off 10% and at about $81.23/barrel, down from over $100 earlier this week. The only other down sector for the day is Utilities, off 1.45%.

PepsiCo is a global leader in snacks and beverages, owning well-known household brands including Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Lay’s, Cheetos, and Doritos, among others. The company dominates the global savory snacks market and also ranks as the second-largest beverage provider in the world (behind Coca-Cola) with diversified exposure to carbonated soft drinks, or CSD, as well as water, sports, and energy drink offerings. Convenience foods account for approximately 58% of its total revenue, with beverages making up the rest. Pepsi owns the bulk of its manufacturing and distribution capacity in the US, but uses bottlers overseas for beverages. International markets made up 41% of total sales and 46% of operating profits before corporate expenses in 2025.

This pick list highlights constituents of the Morningstar US Large Cap Index that we believe offer investors the best risk-adjusted return prospects. Stocks of large-cap companies where neither growth nor value characteristics predominate. Stocks in the top 70% of the capitalization of the U.S. equity market are defined as large cap.