PepsiCo (PEP) RSU sell-vs-hold
Calculator · free · no signup · PEPSell at vest or hold? Compare after-tax payout from selling PepsiCo RSUs at vest vs. holding through the LTCG cliff at 12 months.
Beta · invite-only · AlphaLatitude Inc. · Free Tools
Your vest
Tax inputs
Hold strategy
Best after-tax payout — at year 1 yr
$47,709
Sell + invest wins by $4,981 over Hold 1 yr.
Estimates only. Not financial advice.
Heads-up: under-withholding. Your employer withholds federal tax at the IRS supplemental rate (22.0% on this vest, ≈ $17,600). Your marginal federal rate on this vest is 32.7%, owing $26,171. Expect to settle the $8,571 gap at tax time.
The hidden purchase
Tax was paid at vest either way. Holding is mathematically equivalent to taking $44,509 in after-tax cash and buying $44,509 of PEP today.
Most diversification frameworks would advise against a purchase that size in a single name; the right answer depends on your conviction in PEP. Holding past one year converts the gain to LTCG.
Sell + invest
Best payout| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Federal | |
| State | |
| Medicare | −$1,160 |
| Additional Medicare | −$720 |
| Market gain over 1 yr at 10.0% | $4,451 |
| Cap-gain tax on diversified gain — LTCG (federal + state + NIIT) | −$1,251 |
| Net at year 1 yr | $47,709 |
Sell every share at vest; invest the after-tax cash at the market return for 1 yr, then liquidate. Diversified — no single-stock concentration risk.
Hold 1 yr
| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Vest tax (federal + state + FICA) | |
| Net at year 1 yr | $42,728 |
Sold 444 shares to cover vest tax (net-settled); kept 556 shares 1 yr to qualify for long-term capital gains.
Social Security + Medicare are payroll taxes (collectively called FICA) — they apply because you're still employed at vest.
Both columns are stated in year-1 yr dollars. The sell side compounds at the market return; the hold side compounds at your single-stock expected return after a 20% volatility drag.
Estimates only. Assumes net-settled (sell-to-cover) vesting; double-trigger and pre-IPO RSUs are out of scope. Excludes multi-state moves, AMT interactions on other equity, and 83(b) elections. Not financial advice.
You evaluated one RSU vest. The beta plans every vest of every grant across years, with concentration and AMT in the loop.
Request beta access →Related calculators: RSU Lot Order Calculator · Stock Concentration Calculator
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo (PEP) is a public Consumer Staples company, incorporated in North Carolina and headquartered in Purchase, NY.
Equity grants at PepsiCo typically include restricted stock units (RSUs).
PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manufacturing, distribution, and marketing of its products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company and Frito-Lay, Inc., PepsiCo has since expanded from its namesake product Pepsi to a diversified range of food and beverage brands. Significant acquisitions include Tropicana Products in 1998, the Quaker Oats Company in 2001, which added the Gatorade brand to the Pepsi portfolio, and Pioneer Foods in 2020 for US$1.7 billion.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay merged in 1965, and the snack half turned out to be the better business: Frito-Lay's direct-store-delivery network reaches retail shelves without distributor intermediaries, producing margins beverages cannot match. Brands span Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Quaker, Gatorade, and Tropicana, the last largely divested in 2021. Fast-food restaurants were spun off as Yum Brands in 1997. GLP-1 weight loss drugs introduced a new question about snack demand. Headquarters are in Purchase, New York.
Sources: pepsico.com · en.wikipedia.org
Equity comp at PepsiCo
- RSUs use single-trigger vesting: shares become yours as each portion vests on schedule, and the value is taxed as ordinary income at that point. No IPO or acquisition is required.
Researched 2026-08-17.
OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by PepsiCo.
PepsiCo (PEP) RSUs vest as ordinary income at the price on vest day. The decision is whether to sell at vest and reinvest, or hold the shares through the 12-month LTCG cliff. This calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare like-for-like.
All PepsiCo tools → · Use the generic RSU Sell-vs-Hold Calculator for any company. Diversifying multiple RSU lots? See the lot-by-lot sell order →
PepsiCo equity questions
- Should I sell or hold my PepsiCo RSUs at vest?
- PepsiCo restricted stock units (RSUs) are taxed as ordinary income on their value at vest whether or not you sell. The only open decision is what to do with the shares afterward: sell at vest and reinvest, or hold past twelve months for long-term capital-gains treatment on any further gain. The calculator above runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare them directly.
- Does PepsiCo grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
- Equity compensation at PepsiCo typically takes the form of restricted stock units (RSUs). Restricted stock units are taxed as ordinary income when they vest.
- Do PepsiCo RSUs use double-trigger vesting?
- No. PepsiCo restricted stock units (RSUs) use single-trigger vesting: each tranche becomes yours as it vests on schedule, taxed as ordinary income at that point, with no liquidity event required.
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