Before the Call: Popping Open PepsiCo

Pop, fizz, oh, what a relief it is -- or rather, what a relief it will be when we learn tomorrow how well PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) did in its fiscal first quarter of 2007.

After the news comes out, we'll have time a-plenty to dissect it. But in these few hours before we begin obsessing over Pepsi's short-term progress, let's take a moment to review what investors think about it as a long-term investment. Our tool in this endeavor: Motley Fool CAPS, where we poll more than 26,000 investors for their views on well over 4,000 companies, Pepsi among them. Here's what Fools have to say about the company.

Up or down?
Over 900 investors have submitted opinions on Pepsi. The verdict: Pepsi beats Coke in this taste test.

96% of CAPS investors think Pepsi will outperform the market, a sentiment mirrored among the ranks of our very best investors, the CAPS All-Stars, who give Pepsi a 97% approval rating. That's good enough for four stars out of a possible five under the CAPS scoring system.

Pepsi rises to the top of the rankings among its CAPS peers:

Wall Street vs. Main Street
Over on Wall Street, the enthusiasm is more muted, as the stock gets six buy ratings to just one sell -- about 86% approval. I guess to win over that last analyst, the stock will have to do better than its current record of outperforming the S&P 500 by three percentage points over the last 52 weeks.

Brass tacks
And what are the thoughts behind these ratings?

Bull pitch
Pepsi bulls love the ease with which this company weathers market turmoil, with one All-Star pointing out that the company did well "even during the 2000-2002 recession," and predicting that it will "continue with excellent profits through good and bad economies." This is one of the fringe benefits of being "one of the strongest brands in America," and dominating the world of snacks, given that "Frito Lay division claims over 50% of snacks available."

Bear pitch
Bears don't have much to say about Pepsi. The most cogent argument in "favor" of its downfall goes like this: "Pepsico has been relying on productivity gains within it's Frito-Lay division to deliver profits. This has reached a plateau that will limit the company's ability to keep delivering double-digit earnings growth."

Who said that?
To learn the identities of the wise Fools who penned these thoughts and explore the plethora of additional financial data we've put together on the company, just click here.

Fool contributor Rich Smith does not own shares of any company named above. You can find him on CAPS, publicly pontificating under the handle TMFDitty, where he's currently ranked 192 out of nearly 28,000 raters. Coca-Cola is an Inside Value recommendation.