What’s Going On Here?Shares of PepsiCo rose 3% on Monday after the giant announced better-than-expected quarterly results – and its snacks business’s cheesy fingerprints were all over them. What Does This Mean?Even though Pepsi’s revenue last quarter was 3% lower than the same time last year, it was still higher than analysts predicted – and the company’s quarterly profit beat expectations too. That lower revenue might’ve been because Pepsi sold fewer drinks in North America, its biggest market. Grocery stores enjoyed a pandemic-driven pickup, sure, but the shuttering of restaurants, bars, and sports arenas largely wiped out demand for soda. Still, at least the company’s snacks business grew last quarter: clearly folks were hankering after long-life essentials like Quaker Oats as much as they were feelgood treats like Cheetos… Why Should I Care?For markets: Keep ‘em guessing.
Most companies – Pepsi included – decided against providing forecasts for the second quarter after seeing the early damage coronavirus had done to their businesses. So analysts have essentially had to guess how they’ve been performing. Pepsi didn’t exactly offer much guidance for the future either, admitting on Monday it was still too early to make financial predictions about the rest of 2020. Going forward, then, those analysts will need to rely more on passing comments the company makes about what it’s seeing at its stores and in its factories, as well as what customers have been saying.
The bigger picture: So near, yet so far.
With most US companies opting out of predictions right now, analysts have spent more time than usual digging through the numbers to generate their forecasts. That tends to result in a wider gap between the highest and lowest estimates, and a greater chance that companies will beat or miss them dramatically (tweet this). But since most investors are well aware of that, it’s likely we’ll actually see less frantic buying or selling of stocks once the quarterly updates are in. | 
