The first household name to report earnings this season is, of all things, Pepsi. And, in keeping with the 2023 theme, it is vaulting higher.
What’s amazing about this stock is, oh, let’s say, the past half century. It never seems to go down. Oh, sure, during extreme bear markets that last more than a few weeks (remember those?) it will soften up a bit, but on the whole, this sucker just goes up, and up, and then after a breather, goes up some more. The trendline I’ve drawn has been intact since Richard Nixon was still learning his way around the White House, and it hasn’t been broken once.
The driving force behind this is multiple expansion. That is to say, there was a time when a company that sold sugar water and dry oatmeal would have a P/E of 11 or so. Not these days. The P/E is almost 40, which used to be the realm of high-risk biotech companies. (And if you want a real kick, just read the company’s own “description“, which will turn your stomach even worse than drinking a diet Pepsi).
The last thing I’ll say is that, judging from the logo history, I am convinced Pepsi was created in the late 19th century from an alien race of beings, because that is QUITE the original logo.
