PepsiCo shares close higher on Wednesday, company to reduce workforce in Philadelphia

On March 1st it became clear that PepsiCo Inc (PEP) intended to reduce its workforce in Philadelphia by 80 to 100, as the new sugar-sweetened beverage tax in the region adversely affected demand for the companys products. 423 persons are currently employed with PepsiCo at 3 locations in Philadelphia.

PepsiCo shares closed higher during Wednesdays trading session. The stock edged up 0.09% ($0.10) to $109.73, with the intraday high and the intraday low being at $110.32 and $109.17 respectively. In the week ended on February 26th the shares of the food and beverage company added 1.55% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a sixth consecutive period of gains. The stock has gone up 0.09% so far during the current month, following a 6.36% surge in February. The latter has been the best monthly performance since October 2015. For the entire past year, the shares of the NYSE-listed beverage company gained 4.71%.

A tax of 1.5 cent per ounce was imposed on sugary and diet drinks in Philadelphia, effective on January 1st, in an attempt to fight increasing number of cases of obesity and diabetes.

As a result of the new tax regime, beverage sales in the region shrank 40%, according to a representative from PepsiCo.

“If the tax is struck down or repealed, we plan to bring people back to work”, Dave DeCecco, a spokesperson for PepsiCo said, cited by Reuters.

The planned job cuts are to occur during the next several months, while affecting front-line and supervisory positions.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, today’s levels of importance for the PepsiCo stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $109.84
R2 – $109.94
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $110.05
R4 (Long Breakout) – $110.36
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $110.73
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $110.89

S1 – $109.62
S2 – $109.52
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $109.41
S4 (Short Breakout) – $109.10
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $108.73
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $108.57

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for PepsiCo Inc (PEP) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $109.26
R1 – $110.57
R2 – $111.31
R3 – $112.62
R4 – $113.93

S1 – $108.52
S2 – $107.21
S3 – $106.47
S4 – $105.73