J.P. Morgan downgrades PepsiCo to 'neutral'; shares fall

** Shares of snacks and soda giant PepsiCo PEP.O fall nearly 1% to $127.5 premarket

** J.P. Morgan downgrades stock rating to "neutral" from "overweight"; slashes PT to $138 from $170, which represents 7.3% upside to the stock's last close

** Brokerage says North America trends likely remain weaker than management expected, based on channel data and recent price hikes, stripping out temporary boosts to demand

** "Despite the several interventions including ingredient reformulation and packaging, increased spend and lower prices, Frito-Lay North America salty snacks performance has been lackluster, in our view, and the recovery appears to have stalled following 1Q26 " - J.P. Morgan

** 25 analysts rate stock "hold" on average; median PT is $153 - data compiled by LSEG

** Up to last day's close, the stock had fallen ~10.5% YTD