On Friday, the children of Jefferies analyst Kaumil Gajrawala brought a unique and lively presence to earnings calls with major corporate leaders, surprising the CEOs of PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper with their insightful questions. Milena and Kamran Gajrawala, the analyst’s teenage daughter and son respectively, took part in the calls as part of “Bring a Kid to Work Day” at their father’s office.

Milena impressed PepsiCo’s CEO, Ramon Laguarta, by asking about the company’s perspective on the upcoming launch of GLP-1 oral medications scheduled for next year. These medications, relevant for weight loss and diabetes, present potential challenges to PepsiCo’s traditional soda and snack markets. Laguarta responded positively, describing the development as “awesome,” and elaborated on how PepsiCo is evolving its product portfolio to cater to various consumer dietary preferences. He stated, "Obviously, we've been transforming the portfolio and we'll continue to give the consumer offerings that help them in any sort of dietary preferences that they have."

Meanwhile, Kamran posed a question to Tim Cofer, CEO of Keurig Dr Pepper, about the company’s new blackberry-flavoured soda. Although the exact wording of Kamran’s question was not disclosed, Cofer expressed his appreciation, remarking, “I think it’s my first-ever question from a young person. I appreciate it, Kamran. And I hope Kamran’s a big fan of Dr Pepper Blackberry.” Following this, Cofer discussed the marketing strategies related to the product launch, referencing “full-funnel marketing activation” for the new drink.

Both CEOs commended the young questioners on their engagement and insight. Ramon Laguarta emphasised the importance of families to PepsiCo and praised Milena’s question, calling it “great.” Jane Gelfand, senior vice president of finance at Keurig Dr Pepper, described Kamran as a “fan and budding analyst” who “did a great job and brought smiles to our whole team.”

Kaumil Gajrawala shared with Bloomberg that bringing his children along to work was intended to give them a real sense of the job. This marked the first occasion they participated in an earnings call, and their successful involvement demonstrated an unexpected yet impressive capacity to engage with complex business topics.

Source: Noah Wire Services