PepsiCo Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Inventory Turnover

Inventory turnover ratio values show fluctuations over the observed periods. Starting at 7.62 in the earliest recorded quarter, it decreased gradually to a low of 6.82 before rising sharply to 8.53. Subsequently, it experienced moderate variability, ending at 7.32 in the latest quarter. This pattern indicates cyclical changes in how efficiently inventory is managed, with periods of faster turnover followed by slower ones.

Receivables Turnover

The receivables turnover ratio follows a somewhat similar trajectory, initially declining from 8.37 to 7.67, then rebounding to 9.16. Thereafter, it varies moderately between roughly 7.6 and 8.9, ending around 8.47. The relative stability in the latter half of the timeline suggests improved or stable efficiency in collecting receivables after initial fluctuations.

Average Inventory Processing Period

The average inventory processing period, expressed in days, exhibits inverse trends relative to the inventory turnover ratio. Starting at 48 days, it increases to a peak of 54 days before decreasing under 45 days, then oscillates around the high 40s to low 50s. This indicates alternating periods of slower and quicker inventory processing, aligning with the inventory turnover trends.

Average Receivable Collection Period

Average collection period for receivables starts at 44 days, rising to 48 days at its peak before decreasing again to around 40-43 days in certain periods, and finally stabilizing in the mid-40s range. This reflects some variability in cash collection efficiency but tends toward consistent cycles of collection durations.

Operating Cycle

The operating cycle, computed as the sum of inventory processing and receivable collection periods, ranges from a low of 83 days to a high of 102 days. It tends to mirror the combined fluctuations of inventory and receivable periods, showing cycles of expansion and contraction in overall working capital usage duration. The latest period shows a moderate operating cycle of 93 days, close to the average observed throughout.

The financial data indicates several notable trends relating to the cost of sales, inventories, and inventory turnover ratios over the multiple quarterly periods examined.

Cost of Sales

The cost of sales exhibits a generally increasing pattern over the timeline, beginning at 6,127 million USD in March 2020 and reaching a peak of 13,181 million USD by December 2024. This suggests an overall growth in production or acquisition costs. There are periodic fluctuations within the quarters; for instance, decreases observed in March quarters compared to the December quarters preceding them, possibly reflecting seasonal or operational factors. Despite some quarter-to-quarter variability, the trend portrays an upward trajectory over the full period.

Inventories

Inventories also show an increasing trend from 3,600 million USD in March 2020 to approximately 5,660 million USD by March 2025. The growth is relatively steady, though there are minor declines in some quarters such as from June 2023 to September 2023 and from September 2024 to December 2024. The data implies a strategy of maintaining higher inventory levels concurrent with the increasing cost of sales, which could reflect efforts to support higher sales volumes or to hedge against supply chain uncertainties.

Inventory Turnover Ratio

The inventory turnover ratio is available starting from the period ending September 2020. It fluctuates within a moderate range, from lows around 6.82 to highs approximately 8.53, without a clear sustained upward or downward trend. Higher turnover ratios in some quarters suggest improved efficiency in inventory management and sales conversion, whereas dips may indicate either slower sales or increased stockpiling. Overall, the ratio remains relatively stable, indicating consistent inventory management practices despite increasing inventory levels.

In summary, the company appears to be managing growth in cost of sales alongside increasing inventory levels, while maintaining a relatively stable and healthy inventory turnover ratio. This balance suggests effective operational controls are in place to support expanding business activity without significant degradation in inventory efficiency.

The quarterly financial data reveals several noteworthy trends and patterns over the analyzed periods. Net revenue demonstrates a cyclical but overall upward movement characterized by seasonal peaks and troughs. Each fiscal year, the first quarter typically records a lower revenue figure compared to the fourth quarter, which consistently exhibits the highest revenue. For instance, net revenue escalates sharply from approximately 13.9 billion US dollars in the first quarter of 2020 to about 22.5 billion US dollars by year-end 2020, indicating strong seasonal demand and recovery. This pattern repeats across subsequent years with incremental growth in peak revenue points, reaching nearly 27.8 billion US dollars by the fourth quarter of 2024. The first quarters across years show modest increases, suggesting steady business expansion without sharp volatility in early-year sales.

Regarding accounts and notes receivable, the data reflects some fluctuations within a relatively narrow band. The amount generally oscillates between roughly 8.5 billion and 12 billion US dollars, peaking several times within the mid to later quarters of various years. The values tend to rise toward mid-year and occasionally decline in the later quarters, implying possible variations in credit terms or collection patterns coinciding with seasonal sales activity. Notably, the receivables show slight incremental growth over the years, which is consistent with the increase in overall revenue volumes.

The receivables turnover ratio, available from the first quarter of 2021 onward, varies between approximately 7.6 and 9.16. This ratio tends to peak in the first quarter or mid-year periods and dips toward the year-end quarters, reflecting changes in how efficiently receivables are collected throughout the year. There is an absence of a clear secular trend, and instead, the ratio appears to fluctuate around a stable range. This suggests relatively consistent receivables management efficiency despite overall growth in revenue and receivables balances.

In summary, the data indicates that the company experiences strong seasonal revenue trends with increasing year-over-year sales volumes. Receivables keep pace with revenue growth, showing moderate elevation in balances without excessive accumulation. The receivables turnover ratio remains within a stable band, indicating sustainable credit and collection practices. These patterns highlight stable operational execution amidst expanding business activity.

Net Revenue

Exhibits consistent seasonality with lower revenue in first quarters and peaks in fourth quarters.

Overall growth trend is observed with peak revenues increasing year-over-year.

First quarter revenues show steady incremental increases, indicating gradual expansion.

Accounts and Notes Receivable

Balances fluctuate moderately with a general upward trend corresponding to revenue growth.

Mid-year peaks in receivables suggest alignment with sales cycles and credit terms.

Receivables Turnover Ratio

Varies between approximately 7.6 and 9.16, reflecting seasonal fluctuations in collection efficiency.

Ratio remains stable over time, indicating consistent management of receivables despite business growth.

Working Capital

The working capital values exhibit a predominantly negative trend from June 2020 onward, fluctuating between moderate and significant deficits. Initially positive at 2,190 million USD in March 2020, working capital turned negative in June 2020 and has remained largely negative since. There are pronounced deepening deficits in some quarters, with the largest negative values recorded in December 2021 (-4,437 million USD), June 2022 (-4,590 million USD), and December 2022 (-5,246 million USD). Although there are intermittent slight recoveries (e.g., -1,367 million USD in September 2021), the general trend indicates increasing working capital deficits over the full timeline. By March 2025, the working capital remains notably negative (-5,223 million USD), suggesting persistent liquidity constraints or increased current liabilities relative to current assets.

Net Revenue

Net revenue data follows a clear upward trajectory with seasonal fluctuations typically seen within fiscal quarters. Starting at 13,881 million USD in March 2020, revenue steadily increases to a peak around late 2022 and early 2023 quarters, such as 27,996 million USD in December 2022 and 27,850 million USD in December 2023. Each calendar year shows a pattern of increasing revenue from Q1 through Q4. Despite periodic quarterly dips (e.g., March quarters tend to be lower relative to year-end results), the overall direction is growth. The revenue in March 2025 holds steady at 17,919 million USD, consistent with earlier first quarter performances, indicating sustained revenue strength across the observed period.

Working Capital Turnover

No data is provided for working capital turnover ratios, thus no trend analysis for this metric can be conducted.

Summary of Observations

While net revenue has shown consistent growth over the analyzed quarters, working capital displays a persistent negative position, indicating potential short-term liquidity challenges. This divergence suggests that despite increasing sales performance, the company may be experiencing issues related to current asset management or rising current liabilities. The lack of working capital turnover data limits the ability to assess operational efficiency in managing working capital. Continuous monitoring of these metrics is advisable to better understand the balance between revenue growth and liquidity health.

The inventory turnover ratio exhibits a fluctuating pattern throughout the observed periods, ranging from a low of 6.82 to a high of 8.53. Notably, the ratio increased significantly from 6.82 in September 2020 to 8.53 by March 2022, indicating an improvement in inventory management and faster cycling of inventory within this timeframe. However, following this peak, the ratio experienced some decline and oscillation, settling around values between 7.01 and 7.87 in later periods. This variability suggests intermittent changes in inventory efficiency, possibly influenced by seasonal factors, supply chain conditions, or changes in demand.

Correspondingly, the average inventory processing period, expressed as the number of days, shows an inverse trend relative to the inventory turnover ratio, as expected. The period increased from 48 days in March 2020 to a peak of 54 days by September 2020, before decreasing to a low of 43 days by March 2022. This decrease reflects the company’s ability to process and turn over inventory more quickly during the interval when the turnover ratio was rising.

From March 2022 onward, the average processing period fluctuated between 46 and 52 days, indicating some variability in inventory holding times but generally maintaining a moderate range. The cyclical movements between shorter and longer processing periods align with the changes observed in the inventory turnover ratio, underscoring shifts in operational efficiency over the quarters.

Summary of Trends:

- Inventory turnover ratio improved markedly until early 2022 but showed moderate volatility thereafter.

- Average inventory processing period demonstrated an inverse relationship to turnover, with days held reducing as turnover increased.

- Fluctuations in both metrics suggest ongoing adjustments in supply chain or inventory strategies.

- Overall, the company exhibits a capacity to manage inventory effectively with some periodic variances likely linked to external factors or internal policy changes.

The analysis of the financial ratios over the observed periods reveals several trends concerning receivables management.

Receivables Turnover Ratio

This ratio exhibits some fluctuations across the quarters but generally remains within a moderate range. Starting at 8.37 in the period ending March 20, 2021, the turnover ratio slightly declines to 7.67 by September 4, 2021, then recovers to 8.03 by the end of December 2021. It peaks at 9.16 in March 19, 2022, indicating a higher efficiency in collecting receivables during this quarter. Following this peak, the ratio declines to a low point around 7.6 in September 7, 2024, before recovering again to 8.89 by December 28, 2024. The last observed value, 8.47 in March 22, 2025, suggests a stable collection performance toward the end of the period.

Average Receivable Collection Period

Inverse to the turnover ratio, the average collection period indicates the number of days required to collect receivables. The period starts at 44 days around March 20, 2021, increases to 48 days by September 4, 2021, indicating some delay in collections. Subsequently, it falls to 40 days in the quarter ending March 19, 2022, coinciding with the peak in turnover ratio, denoting improved collection efficiency. In the following quarters, the period hovers mostly between 43 and 47 days, with a slight increase to 48 days in September 7, 2024, pointing to a marginally slower collection pace. The final quarter observed records 41 days, indicating a moderate improvement again.

Overall, the data suggests a cyclical pattern in the efficiency of receivables collection. Periods of higher turnover ratios correspond to shorter collection periods, reflecting effective credit and collection processes. Variability reflects possible seasonal impacts or changes in credit policies, but no extreme deviations indicate significant risk or deterioration in receivables management performance throughout the periods evaluated.

Average Inventory Processing Period

The average inventory processing period shows fluctuations over the observed timeline. Starting from 48 days, it increased gradually to a peak of 54 days by September 2020. Subsequently, a decline occurred reaching 43 days in March 2022, indicating improved efficiency in inventory management. Following this, the period slightly rose again, fluctuating between 46 to 52 days over the later quarters. This pattern suggests a cyclic adjustment, likely reflective of seasonal or operational changes impacting inventory turnover.

Average Receivable Collection Period

The average receivable collection period remained relatively stable but exhibited some minor variability. Initially around 44 to 48 days, it peaked twice at 48 days by September 2021 and again in late 2024. Intervals of slight improvement were noted, particularly in March 2022 and March 2024, where the collection period decreased to around 40-43 days. This indicates intermittent enhancements in credit control or customer payment behaviors, though overall the collection period remained moderately consistent.

Operating Cycle

The operating cycle, representing the total time taken from inventory acquisition to cash collection, mirrors the combined trends of inventory and receivables periods. Beginning at 92 days, it increased to a high of 102 days in September 2020, signifying a lengthening of operational processes during that period. Thereafter, a decline ensued, reaching a low of 83 days in March 2022, demonstrating an improvement in overall operational efficiency. The operating cycle then experienced minor fluctuations around the 90 to 98 days range, suggesting stabilization with periodic adjustments probably related to business cycle and external factors.