Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Lunch, our afternoon update on today's market action, news, and analysis.

Good afternoon. Today is Tuesday, September 2nd, and I'm your host, Kim Kahn. Our top story so far.

Shares of PepsiCo are gaining ground on the heels of reports that Elliott Investment Management has accumulated a substantial

stake in the company. The Wall Street Journal says Elliott now holds a $4 billion stake amid

efforts to make changes to boost its sagging share price. Elliot's position in Pepsi, which is

reportedly the hedge fund's largest equity position ever, makes it one of the snack and beverage

maker's top five active investors, excluding

index funds. Recent shifts in consumer tastes, especially in regards to carbonated beverages,

as well as lost market share in its snack business, has resulted in a 14% decline in shares

year-over-year versus only a 4% drop for rival Coca-Cola. Additionally, Pepsi has dropped to fourth

place in U.S. sales volumes behind

Coke, Dr. Pepper, and Sprite. The journal suggests Pepsi could initiate strategies similar to those

taken by Coca-Cola, such as returning company-owned bottling operations to local, independent

bottlers, or possibly splitting the company into two entities, food and beverage, to unlock value in

the beverage business.

Seeking Alpha analyst Julia Ostien says, the issues we've seen in the past, like weak demand

for beverages in North America, are becoming more and more apparent, which should worry long-term

investors. After this year's slip, it was a solid quarter for PepsiCo, but it doesn't change

the core concerns around gross

sustainability and payout quality, she added.

Also in the snack space, Kraft Hines said that its board of directors has unanimously approved a plan

to separate the company into two independent publicly traded companies through a tax-free

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