Celsius is chugging straight from RFK Jr.’s trickledown fountain…

The Micah Parsons trade may have sent more TVs flying through walls in Texas than Tony Romo’s entire career, but in “Stonkland” this year, the real “holy sh*t” storyline is what I’m calling the RFK trickledown effect.

Sure, RFK Jr. is better known for beefing with Big Pharma (and doing it with a voice that sounds like nails on a chalkboard), but his nonstop “healthier living” crusade has actually started to move culture. The data backs it up: younger consumers are ghosting Coke, even passing on Diet Coke, and reaching instead for “better for you” cans like Zevia, Poppi, and (most of all) Celsius. And if you’re looking for the poster child of that shift, it’s Celsius… by a mile

Now, I get it, saying RFK had this big of an impact sounds like a stretch. But just pull up the stock chart and the story tells itself. If you bought early last year, chances are your hairline started receding from that one decision alone. At one point, Celsius was down nearly 75% from its highs as investors decided the hype train had officially run off the rails. It looked doomed to join the “remember that stock?” graveyard alongside GoPro and Crocs (before Crocs somehow pulled off the most random comeback).

But then the setup changed. Soda consumption kept sliding into irrelevance, RFK’s wellness preaching went from fringe rant to mainstream lifestyle trend, and Celsius went full “librarian takes the glasses off and suddenly she’s hot” moment. Their earnings report earlier this month sealed it… this isn’t some passing health fad, it’s a real business scaling like crazy. So of course, retail traders piled in like it was a Supreme drop, and the stock ripped 19% on the news.

Pepsi, for what it’s worth, saw the setup coming even before Celsius pulled its Lazarus routine. Back in 2022, they quietly dropped $550 million for an 8.5% stake. At the time, it looked like a hedge… a “let’s get some exposure to this fizzy brand and see if it sticks.” And now this morning, they’ve doubled down with another $585 million, bringing their ownership up to 11%.

(Source: CNBC)

As part of the new deal, Celsius will run Rockstar Energy in the U.S. and Canada (the brand Pepsi literally owns but couldn’t make cool) plus Alani Nu, a female-focused wellness energy drink. Pepsi pretty much told them: “We’re done trying to figure this out. You run the playbook here, we’ll ship it worldwide.” Meanwhile, Coke is still tinkering with Coke Zero flavors that nobody asked for. (Peach chili lime Zero? Who tf drinks that?).

If you zoom out to consumer behavior, the decision makes complete sense. U.S. soda consumption has dropped from 53 gallons per person in 2000 to under 37 today. And as far as functional, zero-sugar drinks? Well, they made up 86% of energy drink growth in Q1 2025. That’s why Pepsi’s done with their “let’s test the waters” phase and gone full “bet the house.” Companies like Celsius are the future, and they know it.

From my perspective, this is Pepsi running the same playbook Big Tech has mastered: if you can’t build it yourself, buy the one scaling fastest before someone else does. And Wall Street clearly agrees… Celsius is up another 6% on the news. So if you were one of the brave souls who held the stock when it was down 75%, you deserve an award… and this year, you’re finally getting it.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News holds positions in PepsiCo and Coca-Cola as mentioned in the article.