NEW YORK, December 28, 2025, 21:27 ET — Market closed
- PepsiCo shares last closed up 0.03% at $143.78 on Friday, tracking a quiet post-holiday U.S. session. [1]
- A leadership transition in PepsiCo’s North America business takes effect Sunday, a Dec. 15 SEC filing showed. [2]
- Investors head into Monday watching U.S. housing data and the Fed’s latest minutes, with PepsiCo’s next earnings set for Feb. 3. [3]
PepsiCo shares ended slightly higher on Friday, last closing at $143.78, as investors moved through a muted post-Christmas session and looked ahead to a leadership handoff in the company’s North America business this weekend. [4]
The timing matters because U.S. stocks are in the final stretch of 2025, when thin holiday trading and year-end positioning can magnify small moves. The period also overlaps the so-called “Santa Claus rally,” a seasonal window covering the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the next. [5]
For PepsiCo, the year-end calendar also lines up with a management reshuffle and investors’ focus on how quickly the company can lift performance in its core snack-and-drinks operations. A leadership change can reset priorities, but investors tend to look for early signs in results and guidance. [6]
Wall Street’s broader tone was subdued on Friday, with the S&P 500 down 0.03% and the Dow off 0.04%, Reuters reported. “We’re just simply catching our breath today after the holiday,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group. [7]
PepsiCo’s peers traded mixed, with Coca-Cola down about 0.3% and Keurig Dr Pepper up about 0.3% on the day, based on last available closes.
In a Dec. 15 filing, PepsiCo said Steven Williams, its chief executive for North America, would transition to executive vice president and vice chairman, global chief commercial officer and corporate affairs, effective Dec. 28. The same filing said Ram Krishnan would become CEO of PepsiCo North America. [8]
PepsiCo said the shift is designed to accelerate growth and integrate its foods and beverages operations where it sees value. The company detailed the move in a newsroom post tied to the filing. [9]
The leadership change follows a broader push to improve execution and margins in North America, after activist investor Elliott Investment Management pressed for changes this year. Elliott disclosed a $4 billion stake in September, and PepsiCo announced a review of its North America supply chain on Dec. 8 after discussions with the hedge fund, Reuters reported. [10]
PepsiCo said that plan includes “affordable price tiers” and simpler ingredients for snacks, and it aims to cut costs by reducing nearly 20% of its U.S. product lines by early next year and closing several manufacturing lines. The company said it would update investors on the North America supply chain review in late 2026. [11]
PepsiCo also said it expects automation and digitization to deliver at least 100 basis points of core operating margin expansion over the next three fiscal years. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. [12]
Ahead of Monday’s session, investors will get fresh U.S. housing data, with the National Association of Realtors scheduled to release its November pending home sales index at 10 a.m. ET. Markets will also look to the Federal Reserve’s December meeting minutes on Tuesday, according to U.S. economic calendars. [13]
For traders who lean on charts, PepsiCo is hovering around $144, below widely watched moving averages — rolling price averages that many use as basic trend gauges. Technical readouts showed the stock’s 50-day and 200-day moving averages near the mid-$140s as of Friday’s close. [14]
The next clear company catalyst is earnings. PepsiCo has said it will publish fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results for the year ending Dec. 27 on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, with materials posted early that morning on its investor site. [15]
References
1. finance.yahoo.com, 2. www.sec.gov, 3. www.nar.realtor, 4. www.sec.gov, 5. www.reuters.com, 6. www.sec.gov, 7. www.reuters.com, 8. www.sec.gov, 9. www.pepsico.com, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. www.reuters.com, 12. www.reuters.com, 13. www.nar.realtor, 14. www.investing.com, 15. www.pepsico.com
