PepsiCo’s Average Product Prices Spike 17% Year-Over-Year

While the Fed sits around and rearranges numbers, equations and definitions to try and couch what is obviously an ugly inflationary picture for the country, at least one company is giving it to people straight: PepsiCo.

The company reported earnings this morning, posting a 9% rise in its Q3 sales and offering up increased guidance as it keeps raising prices on both snacks and its flagship beverages.

The 12% increase it expects from full year organic revenue, noted by the Wall Street Journal this morning, comes at the hands of average prices rising an astonishing 17% from the year prior. The price hikes have also helped the company raise its profit outlook. It now expects per-share earnings growth of 10% for the year, the report notes.

The rise in prices has helped offset a “slight decline” in overall sales volume, the report says. This means that Pepsi is fighting the recession that the country is in with more inflation. 

It also is a stark reminder of what the real year-over-year cost hikes of everyday goods has been for everyday Americans, despite CPI continuing to hover in the high single digits. In addition to prices rising, consumers are also grappling with shrinkflation, wherein more expensive items come in packaging that contains less actual content than it used to. 

Companies like Pepsi have been passing along the rising cost of raw materials, transportation and labor, the report says, reminding us that food inflation in the U.S. is the highest it has been in 40 years.

Grocery prices were up 13.5% in August and this week we will get the latest CPI data. If Pepsi is a leading indicator, there doesn’t seem to be much to be optimistic about…

PepsiCo literally is the CPI for many people in this country. And in that case, inflation is at 17% YOY. https://t.co/N6xnclmlcp

— Quoth the Raven (@QTRResearch) October 12, 2022