PEP is fresh off an all-time high
Cinco de Mayo is here, and the holiday that celebrates Mexico's military victory over France may create tailwinds for beer maker Anheuser-Busch Inbev SA (NYSE:BUD), which owns Corona, and Tostitos parent PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP).
The former could use a sales boost from the holiday, which is more widely celebrated in the U.S. than in Mexico, after conservatives boycotted Bud Light over a social media promotion with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. CEO Michel Doukeris said a sales drop-off over the first three weeks of April only represented 1% of the company's global volumes during the same period, though.
Bernstein raised its price target on BUD to to $75 from $72.75 earlier. Still, the stock was last seen down 3.8% at $63.40. The shares have added more than 23% in the past nine months, while their 60-day moving average looks ready to contain any additional losses.
It's also worth noting options traders are swarming BUD, with 2,201 calls and 5,782 puts exchanged so far, which is five times the intraday average volume. Most popular are the June 60 and 65 puts.
Meanwhile, PepsiCo stock yesterday scored an all-time high of $193.95. The 20-day trendline has been guiding the equity higher since mid-March, contributing to its 13.4% year-to-date lead. At last check, PEP was 0.3% higher at $193.91, on pace for its sixth win in seven sessions.
Options look like a solid route for those wanting to weigh in on PepsiCo stock's next moves. This is per its Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 14%, which ranks in the low 13th percentile of its annual range.