In the era of extra virgin kale... Pepsi has aggressively focused on healthier-anything. It recently acquired fruit/veggie innovator Bare Foods, dropped $3.2B to buy SodaStream, and launched LIFEWTR water. But shares jumped to a record high Wednesday thanks to the opposite: Salty snacks and soda — Growth was its fastest in three years:
- Frito-Lay: Sales surged 5.5% last quarter — The new CEO called that "extraordinary" and thanked Super Bowl stock-ups.
- The Pepsi soda fam: Sales across Pepsi-branded drinks rose 3% after years of not doing that.
But calories are complicated... Dive deeper into Pepsi's drink menu and you see its top-performers are specifically the anti-sugar crew — Healthy fizz is making up for slowness in cavity-inducing sodas:
- Bubly: Pepsi's new Insta-friendly sparkling water earned its 1st Super Bowl ad and the 16% sales jump since last year scares your LaCroix pamplemousse.
- Pepsi Zero Sugar: The least unhealthy Pepsi option enjoyed a 29% sales surge thanks to a year-long marketing campaign.
"Advertising... is working." That's the simple/literal message from Pepsi's CFO. Even though the company's still in battle mode (closing factories and laying off people), it upped its ad spending by double-digits. Steve Carell and Cardi B together are selling more soda. Innovation isn't.