Shares of Pepsico Inc. jumped sharply yesterday after its chairman, Wayne Calloway, said on Monday that the company was weighing steps to bolster its Pizza Hut restaurant chain and that first-quarter earnings would rise. Shares of Pepsico rose $1.625, to $38.625, on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. At a conference in Arizona on Monday, Mr. Calloway told industry analysts that Pepsico could rein in the expansion of company-owned restaurants if the units did not improve performance. That could free as much as $50 million in cash a year, Mr. Calloway said. He added that Pepsico, based in Purchase N.Y., could sell some company-owned units to franchisees.
