PepsiCo's Stock Slides to 120th in Trading Volume as Consumer Shifts and Macro Pressures Weigh on Soda Giant

On October 6, 2025, PepsiCo (PEP) traded with a volume of $0.95 billion, ranking 120th among stocks in terms of trading activity. The stock closed down 1.61% for the session, reflecting a decline in investor sentiment amid broader market volatility.

Recent developments affecting PEP include a shift in consumer preferences toward healthier beverage options, which has pressured the company’s traditional soda segment. Analysts noted that while PepsiCo’s snack division maintained steady performance, the beverage unit’s growth momentum weakened in Q3 2025. A regulatory review of the company’s marketing practices in key markets added short-term uncertainty, though no enforcement actions have been announced.

Market participants also cited macroeconomic factors, including rising interest rates, as a drag on the stock. The broader S&P 500 index faced selling pressure during the session, with defensive sectors underperforming. PepsiCo’s valuation metrics remain below historical averages, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.3x as of October 3, 2025.

I understand you’d like to evaluate a daily-rebalanced portfolio that, every trading day since 1 Jan 2022, goes long the 500 stocks with the highest trading volume and closes the position after one day. A couple of details need to be settled before I can set up a rigorous back-test: 1. Universe definition • Should the ranking include all U.S. common stocks listed on NYSE + NASDAQ, or a narrower universe (e.g., only S&P 1500 constituents)? • Do you prefer to rank by dollar volume (price × shares) or by raw share volume? 2. Execution assumptions • Enter at the next day’s open and exit at the following day’s open (common in academic studies), or enter/exit at the same day’s close / next day’s close? • Equal-weight allocation across the 500 names, or another weighting scheme? 3. Performance metrics • Any specific benchmarks (e.g., SPY) or risk-control overlays you’d like to include? Our current back-testing tools focus on single-ticker strategies, so to implement a cross-sectional 500-stock portfolio we’ll need to construct daily portfolio returns manually and then evaluate the aggregated series. Once the above points are confirmed, I can outline how we’ll gather the data and run the analysis.