Zacks Research Predicts Reduced Earnings for Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q3 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Yum! Brands in a research report issued on Thursday, August 13th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the restaurant operator will earn $1.57 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.69. The consensus estimate for Yum! Brands’ current full-year earnings is $6.42 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Yum! Brands’ FY2026 earnings at $6.47 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.43 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $1.77 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $6.90 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $1.63 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $7.70 EPS.

YUM has been the topic of several other reports. Argus reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, May 4th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.65.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $144.89 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $153.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.09. Yum! Brands has a 12 month low of $137.33 and a 12 month high of $170.14.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.04. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 24.57% and a net margin of 25.42%.The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Aaron Powell sold 6,001 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $962,680.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,925,521.26. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 7,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.15, for a total value of $1,219,227.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,831,674. This represents a 39.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,549 shares of company stock valued at $2,890,168. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $4,186,811,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,419,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,938,139,000 after buying an additional 3,240,190 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,164,814 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,991,573,000 after acquiring an additional 124,720 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,800,382 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,334,427,000 after acquiring an additional 121,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $706,799,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.