Analyst: Pepsi Stock is Undervalued

PepsiCo Inc (NASDAQ:PEPSI) is inching higher before the open, after landing a bull note from Morgan Stanley. The Wall Street analyst upgraded the food and beverage giant to "overweight" from "equal weight," calling the stock undervalued and citing the potential for rebounding fundamentals. Ahead of the bell, PEP is up 1.5% at $167.11.

Coming into today, PEP was down 3% and 6.7% year-to-date and year-over-year, respectively. The stock is trading well below its May 2023 all-time highs, but holding above its October multi-year lows. As such, analysts are lukewarm on Pepsi stock, with seven of 17 covering brokerages rating it a tepid "hold." This leaves room for more analysts to change their tune. 

Options are an affordable way to speculate at the moment. PEP's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 14% ranks higher than just 15% of annual readings -- a sign that premium traders are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations.