PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) reported 2014 third-quarter fully-diluted net EPS of $1.32, up 7.3% from the year-earlier period. Adjusted EPS was $1.36, ahead of the analyst consensus of $1.29 per share. PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) reported 2014 third-quarter net income rose to $2.01 billion, up 5.2% from $1.91 billion in the year earlier period. Revenues in the 2014 third quarter hit $17.22 billion, up 1.8% from $16.91 billion in the year-earlier period. The Street was expecting revenue of $17.09 billion, according to Capital IQ. PEP said it increased its full-year 2014 core constant currency EPS growth target to 9% from 8%. In 2013, PEP reported core EPS of $4.37.Neuralstem, Inc. (NYSEMKT:CUR), a biotechnology company, Thursday said the first patient was treated last week in the Phase I trial testing NSI-566 human neural stem cells in the treatment of chronic spinal cord injury at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, and that patient has since been discharged from the hospital. Neuralstem, Inc. (NYSEMKT:CUR) notes that the NSI-566/cSCI Phase I trial will treat four patients who have thoracic spinal cord injuries with stem cell transplants directly into the region of the injury, between one and two years post-injury. Shares were down 1.6% at $3.16 in recent trading shortly after Thursday's open. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $2.07 and $4.81.American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG), a global insurance company, said Thursday that it has expanded excess casualty liability limits for Class 1 railroads in the U.S. and Canada to $1 billion per occurrence. This coverage for catastrophe losses would be in excess of $1.5 billion in underlying limits, and is one of the largest capacities offered to the rail industry by a single insurer. American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) said the move was in response to demands of North America's rail companies contending with record rail traffic and the growing number of rail cars carrying potentially hazardous materials, such as crude oil. The excess coverage is provided by Lexington Insurance Company and other affiliated AIG Companies. Lexington is the largest domestic excess and surplus lines carrier in the U.S.Excluding the impact of structural changes and foreign exchange translation, organic revenue in 2014 is expected to grow mid-single digits versus 2013, consistent with the company's long-term target. Based on the current foreign exchange market consensus, the company expects foreign exchange translation to have an unfavorable impact of approximately 3 percentage points on full year net revenue growth in 2014. For 2014, the company expects low-single-digit commodity inflation and productivity savings of approximately $1 billion. The company expects higher interest expense driven by increased debt balances and a core effective tax rate of approximately 25 percent.The company is targeting over $10 billion in cash flow from operating activities and more than $7 billion in free cash flow (excluding certain items) in 2014. Net capital spending is expected to be approximately $3 billion in 2014, within the company's long-term capital spending target of less than or equal to 5 percent of net revenue. PEP said it expects to return $8.7 billion to shareholders in 2014, including dividends of $3.7 billion and share repurchases of $5.0 billion. PEP said it achieved good third-quarter results despite sluggish demand in developed markets and volatility in emerging markets. PEP said the stronger U.S. dollar would also depress reported earnings.
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