PepsiCo Appoints Steve Schmitt As New CFO

PepsiCo (PEP) announced on Thursday that it has named Walmart (WMT) executive Steve Schmitt as its new Chief Financial Officer, effective November 10, succeeding Jamie Caulfield, who has decided to retire next year.

Schmitt currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Walmart U.S., where he oversees the finance function for the retail giant’s multi-billion-dollar omni-channel U.S. organization and also leads the core financial activities of its largest business unit.

He joined Walmart in 2016 and has since served in multiple leadership positions within the retailer’s e-commerce, Club, and mass businesses. Previously, Schmitt held various roles at Yum! Brands. He had begun his career with UPS, spending more than a decade with the company.

Caulfield was named the CFO of PepsiCo in 2023 after Walt Disney tapped the soda and snacks giant’s veteran Hugh Johnston as its financial head. Caulfield is retiring from PepsiCo after a 30-year career with the company. He will remain as CFO until November 10, at which time he will assume an advisory role and assist with the transition through May 15 next year.

Retail sentiment on PepsiCo improved to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ territory a day ago, with message volumes at ‘extremely high’ levels, according to data from Stocktwits. Shares of the company were up marginally in premarket trading.

PepsiCo stated that it expects fiscal 2025 core earnings per share (EPS) to decline by 0.5%, compared to its previous forecast of a 1.5% decrease.

“We also expect our North America business to deliver improved growth and profitability trends as we aggressively reduce costs, accelerate innovation, and further sharpen our price pack architecture initiatives,” the company executives said in prepared remarks.

PepsiCo plans to reduce nearly 15% of its stock-keeping units during the fourth quarter and scale zero-sugar platforms across brands, as well as expand the distribution and reach of Poppi, the prebiotic soda brand.

The company’s third-quarter net sales totaled $23.94 billion, topping Wall Street estimates of $23.84 billion, according to data compiled by Fiscal AI. Its core EPS of $2.29 beat expectations of $2.26.

Shares of PepsiCo have declined by nearly 9% this year and have fallen approximately 20% over the last 12 months. 

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Also See: AZZ Stock Tumbles 6% Premarket After Q2 Earnings: What Went Wrong?

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