PepsiCo. raises full-year profit forecast

PepsiCo. Inc. raised its full-year earnings forecast on Tuesday, betting on accelerating demand for its sodas in theaters, restaurants and stadiums as they pull back crowds following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

The company’s shares rose nearly 2 percent premarket.

The vaccine-aided reopening of public venues across the US following a year of closures or strict capacity limits helped boost sales in PepsiCo’s North America Beverage unit 24 percent in the second quarter.

The company said it expects fiscal 2021 core earnings per share to increase 11 percent, compared with prior forecast of a high-single-digit increase.

Net revenue rose 20.5 percent to $19.22 billion in the quarter ended June 12, above expectations of $17.96 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.