Earnings Preview: Pepsi Bottling Group

Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) is expected to report Q3 earnings before market open Tuesday, Sept. 30, with a conference call scheduled for 11:00 am ET.

Guidance

Analysts are looking for a profit of $1.04 on revenue of $3.86B. The consensus range is $1.02 to $1.06 for EPS, and $3.78B to 3.98B for revenue, according to First Call. Pepsi Bottling gave Q3 and FY08 guidance on September 4: The company sees Q3 EPS of $1.02 to $1.06 and reiterated FY08 EPS guidance of $2.30 to $2.38 vs. a consensus of $2.33.

Analyst Views

Analysts have been positive on Pepsi Bottling recently, with the company getting upgraded by three firms in September. Morgan Stanley upgraded Pepsi Bottling to Overweight from Equal Weight and increased its target to $42 from $40 on valuation, stronger pricing and moderating commodity costs. Banc of America upgraded the company to Buy from Neutral and increased its target to $37 from $35 on valuation as it expects better leverage in FY09 and believes an overly bearish outlook is priced in. Davidson also upgraded Pepsi Bottling to Buy from Neutral.