The simple version

Reported revenue is total sales as the accounting rules require. Organic revenue is the same sales with two things taken out: the effect of exchange rates on sales made in other currencies, and the sales of businesses bought or sold during the year. What is left is roughly the growth of the business the company already had.

PepsiCo reports third-quarter results on Thursday, October 8. In the second quarter, its reported revenue grew 6.4% and its organic revenue grew 2.4%. The other 4 points came from exchange rates and acquisitions, and the company's own release says so in one sentence.

The numbers

• PepsiCo's net revenue increased 6.4% in the second quarter of 2026 (PepsiCo, Second-Quarter 2026 Results, Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K, July 9, 2026)
• Organic revenue increased 2.4% in the quarter (PepsiCo, July 9, 2026)
• Foreign exchange translation added 2.2 percentage points and acquisitions and divestitures added a net 1.8 percentage points (PepsiCo, July 9, 2026)
• For the first half of the year, net revenue rose 7.3% and organic revenue rose 2.5% (PepsiCo, July 9, 2026)
• PepsiCo defines organic revenue performance as a measure that adjusts for foreign exchange translation, acquisitions and divestitures, and, every five or six years, an extra week of results (PepsiCo, glossary of non-GAAP measures, July 9, 2026)
• PepsiCo will post third-quarter results, its Form 10-Q, and prepared remarks at about 6:00 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, October 8, 2026 (PepsiCo, August 25, 2026)

What gets taken out, and why it changes the story

Exchange rates first. Sales made in other currencies get converted for the report, so a shift in exchange rates changes the reported total without any change in what was sold. Revenue can rise this way without a single extra bag of chips leaving a warehouse.

Acquisitions second. When a company buys another business, that business's sales land in this year's total but not last year's. The growth is real money, but it was purchased, not earned by selling more of what the company already made.

Organic revenue is a non-GAAP measure, meaning it is not defined by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Each company writes its own definition, and PepsiCo's release points readers to attached tables that reconcile it to the reported figure. That is why the definition, not the label, is the thing to read.

The actual math on 6.4%

The release splits the quarter's growth into three parts. The shares of the total below are our arithmetic on those parts.

• Organic growth: 2.4 points, or 37.5% of the 6.4% total.
• Exchange rates: 2.2 points, or about 34% of the total.
• Acquisitions and divestitures, net: 1.8 points, or about 28% of the total.
• 2.4 plus 2.2 plus 1.8 equals 6.4, so the parts account for the whole headline.

Roughly 3 of every 8 points of headline growth came from the business PepsiCo already had. The rest depended on the currency market and on purchases, and neither one repeats on its own.

What this means

When results come out this week, both numbers will be in the release. The gap between them is the part of growth that came from outside the existing business, and it can run in either direction: a stronger dollar shrinks reported revenue while organic growth holds steady.

The habit carries to any company that reports an organic, comparable, or constant-currency figure. Read the definition, find the reconciliation, and check which way the gap points before reading the headline.

What this is NOT

This article explains the difference between reported and organic revenue, using PepsiCo's second-quarter 2026 release as the example. It does not predict PepsiCo's third-quarter results, revenue, guidance, or stock reaction, and it does not describe the October 8 release, which had not been published when this was written. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold PepsiCo or any security, and it takes no view on the company's valuation, strategy, or acquisitions. The percentage shares of growth are our arithmetic on the company's published figures. Organic revenue is a company-defined, non-GAAP measure, and other companies define similar measures differently. This is not a political endorsement or criticism of anyone.

Sources

• PepsiCo, Inc., Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K, PepsiCo Reports Second-Quarter 2026 Results, July 9, 2026: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/77476/000007747626000037/q220268-kxexhibit991.htm
• PepsiCo, PepsiCo Announces Timing and Availability of Third-Quarter 2026 Financial Results, August 25, 2026: https://www.pepsico.com/newsroom/press-releases/2026/pepsico-announces-timing-and-availability-of-third-quarter-2026-financial-results