Pepsi shares jump 4% after WSJ reports Elliott planning major activist campaign

PepsiCo shares popped Tuesday aft the Wall Street Journal reported Elliott Investment Management has taken a important involvement to go the user giant's apical 5 progressive investors excluding scale funds.

Shares of PepsiCo climbed 4.5% successful premarket trading. The banal is down astir 2% this year, importantly lagging the broader market.

The Paul Singer-founded Elliott's stake successful Pepsi is worthy astir $4 billion, the Journal reported, citing radical acquainted with the matter. Elliott's program to propulsion for changes astatine Pepsi is unclear astatine this time, the Journal said.

Elliott didn't instantly respond to CNBC's petition for comment.

Pepsi has been cutting costs and trying to amended its nett margins. The institution closed 2 manufacturing plants for its North American nutrient concern during the quarter. Pepsi said it is trying to marque its proscription and logistics much efficient. The institution is besides evaluating however it spends its selling dollars to marque definite it is getting the champion instrumentality connected its investment.

In July, Pepsi reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts' expectations, arsenic the institution projected that anemic North American request volition rebound arsenic strategy changes instrumentality hold.

Elliott has a past of activism that has astatine times yielded beardown returns for investors. It's a ample holder of Phillips 66 and Southwest Airlines and has been driving changes astatine those 2 companies.

— Click here to work the archetypal WSJ story.