Pepsi got slammed by Venezuela

PepsiCo reported third quarter profits and sales that topped analysts' expectations on Tuesday morning.

However, profits fell from a year ago due to a massive charge in its Venezuela business, and weakening currencies.

Profits dropped to $533 million, or $0.36 per share, from $2 billion, or $1.32 a share. Last quarter, the company wrote down the value of its struggling business there, taking a hit of about $1.4 billion. PepsiCo will no longer include results of local Venezuelan subsidiaries in its financial statements from next quarter, and said it "remains dedicated" to serving the market.

On an adjusted basis, the company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.35, beating analysts' estimate for $1.26 according to Bloomberg. Sales totaled $16.3 billion, better than the forecast for $16.1 billion.

Foreign currency fluctuations shaved off 12% from profits.

PepsiCo is more bullish on its performance this year, and raised its EPS growth target (in constant currency) for the fiscal year to 9% from 8%.

"Despite ongoing volatility in many of our key international markets, we delivered strong organic revenue growth, gross margin expansion and double-digit core constant currency EPS growth," CEO Indra Nooyi said in the earnings release.

PepsiCo shares rallied nearly 3% in premarket trading. They are up about 1% year-to-date, and 2% over the past year.