What a selection of the world’s top brands had to say about their performance and outlook during the first quarter of the 2026 calendar year.
PepsiCo (16.04.26):
What’s the top line? Q1 organic revenue was up 2.6%, with guidance unchanged from Q4 at 2-4% organic revenue growth for the year. This was in part due to cost reductions in North America following a productivity program launched in early 2025. Core operating margin was up 10 basis points, and growth rates on ‘permissible and functional’ brands were up to double digits in some cases.
Executive vice president and chief financial officer Stephen Schmitt said he’s pleased with the company’s performance, and plans to ‘continue to play offense’ and invest in value in North America, where he promised ‘additional advertising and marketing’.
CEO Ramon Laguarta added that they were ‘optimising our advertising and marketing’ and that the company is ‘actually a little bit ahead of where we thought we would be by now’.
Any interesting insights? Functional and health-conscious foods remain a focus, with Laguarta crediting brands like Naked and Gatorade with bringing in new customers seeking ‘no colors, no artificial colors, no artificial flavors’. He added that there are now ‘two types of consumers coming into the category’, with lapsed customers being brought back to snacking brands, like Lays and Doritos, thanks to affordable multipacks and multi-serve options.
Events marketing will be a key for the year ahead. PepsiCo is sponsoring the Fifa World Cup, which Laguarta called a ‘very big opportunity to engage consumers’ holistically through space gains and activations. In particular he highlighted the ‘No Lays No Game’ campaign, which he said would ‘link Lays to the occasion of sports watching and making sure that when there are gatherings of consumers watching the game, this is activated’.
Netflix (16.04.26):
What’s the top line? Netflix beat Wall Street expectations for both revenue (which increased 16% year on year to $12.25bn) and earnings in Q1, although the result was not enough to keep investors happy, with shares sliding 10% in after-hours trading on Thursday.
The drop may be a reaction to the announcement that co-founder Reed Hastings will step down from his role as executive chairman in June.
Forward guidance also likely had an effect. Netflix projected a 1.5% decline in operating margins for the April-to-June quarter, signalling some near-term pressure on profitability even as top-line growth remains strong.
This was also the first earnings call since Netflix dropped out of the bidding for Warner Bros. Discovery, with co-CEO Ted Sarandos saying that Netflix had put ‘emotion and ego aside’ to walk away as the cost of the deal grew.
Any interesting insights? Management used the earnings call to double down on three strategic pillars: live content (especially sports), advertising, and gaming — all increasingly central to Netflix’s pitch as more than just a streaming service.
Co-CEO Gregory Peters said programmatic buying is growing strongly and is ‘on its way’ to representing more than half of non-live ad spend. Netflix now has more than 4,000 advertisers globally, up 70% year on year in 2025, signalling steady traction for its ad-supported tier.
For live sports, Sarandos said that Netflix is still focused on ‘big breakthrough events’ rather than full-season rights. He pointed to the World Baseball Classic as a standout success, noting it was the most-watched programme Netflix has ever had in Japan, and the largest baseball streaming event of all time, with 31.4 million viewers.
He was clear that sports is part of a broader live strategy that also includes cultural events such as the recent comeback tour by Korean pop group BTS.
Gaming also remains an unexpectedly strong engagement driver. Peters highlighted retention benefits and framed gaming as a major long-term opportunity, citing a global consumer spend market of roughly $150bn, excluding China and Russia. The Netflix Game Controller app becoming the most downloaded in the US App Store wasn’t mentioned by management but reflects the popularity gaming has on the platform.
Peters spoke about the four key areas for gamers; narrative, puzzle, mainstream and kids. For the latter, Netflix has launched the Netflix Playground app, featuring ad-free games designed for children under eight and included with all Netflix memberships.
Peters said: ‘Our goal here is to become a destination where kids’ favorite worlds come to life through games and through interactive experiences.’
Finally, management was asked to spell out the business model on podcasts. Sarandos said there were early signs of incremental engagement, with evidence that podcast content helps fill ‘daytime gaps’ in viewing and boosts mobile consumption, where engagement has traditionally been weaker.
