Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

04 Nov 2026, 11:40 by Doug Wharley · The Cerbat Gem

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM – Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The restaurant operator reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.05, Zacks reports. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Here are the key takeaways from Yum! Brands’ conference call:

Taco Bell’s recovery accelerated after the U.S. food-safety disruption: U.S. same-store sales were up approximately 1% quarter-to-date and 3% over the latest four weeks, while Q4 restaurant-level margins are expected to improve to 21.5%–23.5%.
KFC delivered solid international momentum, excluding China, with system sales up 9% and same-store sales up 4%; management cited strong value offerings, innovation, loyalty, and digital execution, with the U.K. posting 6% same-store sales growth.
Yum! continues to expand rapidly, opening 955 gross restaurants in the quarter and exceeding its 5% full-year unit-growth algorithm excluding Pizza Hut. KFC surpassed 35,000 locations and expects 2026 to be a record development year.
The Pizza Hut divestiture strengthened liquidity and shareholder-return capacity: Yum! received approximately $2.4 billion in net proceeds, repurchased $543 million of stock in Q3, and expects to return excess capital after addressing $1.6 billion of upcoming debt maturities.
Digital and AI initiatives are showing early operating benefits, including 8% faster drive-through speeds from Byte’s kitchen display system and approximately 1.5% sales uplift at Taco Bell locations using Voice AI. However, management acknowledged that Pizza Hut transition-service costs will continue to pressure G&A temporarily, with some exposure potentially lasting into 2027.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 5.1%

NYSE YUM traded up $8.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $165.09. The company had a trading volume of 617,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,175,365. The company’s fifty day moving average is $146.29 and its 200-day moving average is $153.48. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $134.26 and a one year high of $170.14. The company has a market cap of $45.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 37.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 241 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.89, for a total value of $32,990.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,980.98. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Tracy Skeans sold 3,494 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.00, for a total transaction of $552,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 3 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474. This trade represents a 99.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,288 shares of company stock valued at $666,149. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners started coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $162.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.78.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Yum! Brands

Key Headlines Impacting Yum! Brands

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

Positive Sentiment: Yum! reported third-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.56, beating analyst estimates. KFC’s international business provided a growth offset, with 9% system sales growth reported. Q3 earnings call highlights
Positive Sentiment: Management said Taco Bell sales are recovering after the food-safety scare, and loyalty members returned more quickly than other customers. Deutsche Bank raised its price target to $171 from $167, while TD Cowen increased its target to $180 and reiterated a buy rating. Taco Bell loyalty and recovery Deutsche Bank target change
Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion is mixed: BTIG reaffirmed a neutral rating, while other recent research notes are more cautious or constructive. BTIG Research ratings
Negative Sentiment: Taco Bell’s U.S. same-store sales fell 4% in the quarter as the cyclospora outbreak hurt traffic. Although sales improved later, the disruption weighed on the results and revenue missed some analyst estimates. Taco Bell sales recovery
Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded YUM from “hold” to “strong sell.” Separately, all KFC and Taco Bell locations in Puerto Rico temporarily closed after Yum! ended its relationship with the local operator, creating a near-term operating disruption. Zacks downgrade Puerto Rico restaurant closures

About Yum! Brands

(Get Free Report)

Yum! Brands, Inc is a global restaurant company that operates, franchises and licenses quick-service and fast-casual restaurants. Its principal brands are KFC, which specializes in fried and other chicken products; Taco Bell, which offers Mexican-inspired food; Pizza Hut, which sells pizzas and related menu items; and The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual burger restaurant chain.

The company’s business is primarily franchise-based, with restaurants operated by independent franchisees and licensees alongside company-operated locations.