PepsiCo shares fall as higher costs overshadow

NEW YORK: Indra Nooyi managed to return PepsiCo Inc.’s key drinks business to growth in her final quarter leading the company, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy investors. Shares of the snack and beverage maker slid on Tuesday after the company cut its full-year profit forecast. PepsiCo also reported higher transportation and aluminum costs.“We remain concerned by mounting commodity pressures,” Wells Fargo Securities LLC analyst Bonnie Herzog said in a research note on Tuesday. She also cited higher costs and currency pressures, while noting the beverage unit’s performance was encouraging.

The shares dropped as much as 2.7% to $107.70 in New York, the biggest decline in almost two months. A lower tax rate helped boost core earnings per share to $1.59, which is 2 cents above the average prediction from analysts.