Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), which competes with McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Burger King (NYSE: BKC), and Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN) for the right to feed consumers on the go around the world, issued a Q3 report after the bell on Tuesday that was decent in many respects. Earnings per share on an adjusted basis increased over 20% to 70 cents. This performance absolutely embarrassed the analysts, who were looking for a mere 58 cents per share according to our earnings preview.

So, that was one of the decent parts. Actually, I'd say it was a little more than decent. But, unfortunately, the top line didn't grow. Total revenues actually declined 2%.

Continue reading Yum! Brands beats estimates in Q3, but Pizza Hut is not so yummy

Yum! Brands beats estimates in Q3, but Pizza Hut is not so yummy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On the surface, I suppose the market is telling you that Yum! Brands would indeed make a good earnings trade. Not only is the stock up nicely this afternoon, but it isn't too far from a 52-week high.

Continue reading Buy Yum! Brands ahead of earnings?

Buy Yum! Brands ahead of earnings? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After the closing bell last night, fast-food restaurant operator YUM! Brands (NYSE: YUM) stepped into the earnings spotlight, reporting a first-quarter profit that dropped 14% compared to a year ago.

Nevertheless, the company's earnings of 46 cents per share topped the consensus estimate of 40 cents per share. The company's sales dropped by 8% to $2.2 billion, which was worse than Wall Street's expected $2.35 billion.

The company noted that gains in overseas markets were undermined a bit by currency losses and a decline in store traffic in the United States at the company's KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants.

Continue reading YUM! Brands reports delicious earnings

YUM! Brands reports delicious earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), whose competitive colleagues include McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD), Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC), and Wendy's Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN), reported earnings for Q4 and the full fiscal year on Tuesday after the bell.

Net sales increased 4% for the quarter to $3.4 billion, and earnings per share on an adjusted basis went up 5% to $0.46. According to the earnings preview, sales essentially met Wall Street's view, but net income was beat by a penny. For the year, Yum! saw a net sales increase of 8% to $11.3 billion, and its adjusted bottom line increased by 14% to $1.91 per share. Once again, sales were in-line, and earnings beat by the proverbial penny.

Continue reading Yum! Brands had a decent Q4 -- buy the stock now?

Yum! Brands had a decent Q4 -- buy the stock now? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It used to be that the premier advertising medium in the US could keep its place on top for a generation or more. Now that cycle has been cut down to years. Newspapers ruled the American market for more than a century. Radio was dominant for almost five decades. TV pulled ahead in the 1950s and 1960s followed by cable.

In just the last decade the internet has become the "hot" place for advertisers to put their money. First that investment went into big web portals like AOL. Then the flow of money moved to search engines with Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) out in front. It developed the reputation as the most efficient way to reach a multitude of markets and that built it into one of the most valuable companies in the world, based on market cap.

Continue reading More trouble for Google as marketers move on

More trouble for Google as marketers move on originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) wants to educate its patrons. No, it's not going to be offering history lessons to go along with its personal pizzas, fried chicken and burritos. It just wants to make sure you know exactly how many calories are in the stuff you eat at its restaurants. The information will be posted at company-owned locations over the next few years. Management is hoping that franchise locations will also participate in the initiative (I'm sure most eventually will).

Personally, I think this is a great idea. How could anybody be opposed? After all, if I'm in a Pizza Hut, I want to know how much damage I'm doing to myself. Yes, I am one of those people who actually checks out the nutrition pages on the sites of fast-food joints such as McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Burger King (NYSE: BKC) and Wendy's Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN).

But yes, there is a downside for shareholders when this type of information is made available. Indeed, the more I've learned about the health effects of a bad diet, the more conservative I've been about going to a KFC or a McDonald's. No doubt Yum! will see some challenges from people scaling back on buying the junk food it sells. Will there be a significant effect? Will Yum! and its various chains disappear as a result of this decision? No. Management will simply adjust, if it becomes necessary, and will try to offer healthier selections.

Continue reading Should Yum! Brands reveal calorie data?

Should Yum! Brands reveal calorie data? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A friend of mine -- who recently came to LA -- ordered a Papa John's Int'l, Inc. (Nasdaq: PZZA) pizza. She used the Internet. All in all, it was pretty efficient.

Well, according to a recent report, Papa John's has sold about $1 billion in pizzas (over the past seven years). That's certainly a lot of dough, huh? And, as should be no surprise, the growth rate has been stunning: about 50% per year.

There is lots of competition, such as Dominos Pizza (Nasdaq: DPZ) and Pizza Hut. And interestingly enough, Pizza Hut plans to launch a web-enabled widget so you can get pizza at super-fast speeds (I'm sure this will be a big hit for Web 2.0 programmers, who tend to eat pizza at about 2 a.m.).

But, as my friend has experienced, there are some glitches. Ordering online it took two hours for her to get her pizza.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Papa John's: clicking a billion originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 May 2008 17:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) reported Q1 numbers Tuesday after the bell, and the company came through with double-digit growth on the bottom line. Net sales increased 8%, and earnings per share, adjusted for special items, increased 19% to $0.42.

There's a lot of cool stuff in this report that shareholders will view in a positive light. The international story for Yum! is a good one, with operating profit for this part of the company increasing 18%. China continues to be a strong territory for the KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut brands -- as many have pointed out, Yum! is a great way to gain exposure to this market. And how about this -- management saw fit to buy back shares of the company to the tune of almost a billion bucks! That says something to shareholders, as does the increased guidance. Granted, Yum! upped the per-share expectation by only a couple of pennies to $1.87 (excluding items), but that's still the right direction, isn't it? Also, according to Briefing.com, the company beat Wall Street's expectations by two cents.

Yum!, which competes with McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Burger King (NYSE: BKC), Wendy's (NYSE: WEN), and all manner of neighborhood eateries, needs to continue the good fight on the home front. It reversed a negative same-store sales trend this past quarter, but management must not rest on this nice stat -- Yum! must explore better marketing campaigns and branding tactics to keep the comps headed higher. Yum!'s stock is not far from a 52-week high, but I'm currently bullish on its prospects.

Disclosure: I own none of the companies mentioned here; positions can change at any time.

Yum! Brands delivers up double-digit earnings growth for Q1 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) reported earnings last night, and while they weren't the stuff of bubble-like growth, I found them tasty enough. The top line grew by a tame 9% for fiscal 2007, while the bottom line expanded by a much healthier (did I actually use the word "healthier" in a post about Yum! Brands?) 15%, with earnings per diluted share rising to $1.68 versus $1.46 for fiscal 2006. You can thank growth in China, a lower tax rate, a reduction in share count due to buybacks, and that little thing that so many investors love but feels so un-American -- the weak greenback -- for the bottom-line performance.

I've never been to Taco Bell, there are no Pizza Huts in my area, and I only get KFC a few times a year (one of those times being Thanksgiving -- I kid you not, no turkey for me), but I think Yum! is an interesting company and its stock is one that long-term investors can feel comfortable looking at. In my opinion, its P/E is reasonable based on company guidance of $1.85 for 2008. In addition, operating cash flow for 2007 increased 20% to $1.6 billion.

Big caveat here is the dismal same-store performance experienced in the U.S -- system-wide comps were flat and company-wide comps declined 3%. Bad though that may be, I still have confidence in the value of the brands, and I believe that, in time, management will stumble upon new marketing campaigns to get the comps up. For now, investors can look positively upon the company's recent dividend history and the willingness of Yum! to purchase its own shares. With shares are off their highs and with the company's quarterly results of 44 cents per share beating analyst estimates yet again, you'll see why Yum! might indeed be worth a bit of diligence.

A tasty year for Yum! Brands? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Feb 2008 07:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Yum Brands (YUM) 3Q profit jumps 17%

Yum Brands (YUM) 3Q profit jumps 17% originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yum Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) reported a better than expected quarter with the international division leading the way. U.S. sales were basically flat, but the international division drove revenues up 12% year-over-year, and earnings up 13%. The Street was expecting an 11% increase.

Yum Brands suffered a serious set back in the New York City market in late 2006 when a Taco Bell restaurant had an E.coli outbreak and over 70 patrons became ill. The Taco Bell/KFC brand suffered another setback when a television crew in New York City filmed rats running in and out of the restaurant. Yum Brands has certainly taken the steps to prevent either situation from ever happening again, but the public image perception will take more time to change.

Due to the two unfortunate situations, same-store sales for the quarter were a negative 3%, mostly attributed to Taco Bell's negative 7% sales growth. KFC and Pizza Hut posted positive same-store sales, not enough to offset Taco Bell's results though.

Yum has found its sweet spot in the international division. The company is on track to open up 800 new units overseas this year, 375 of those in China. The Chinese market has been quite receptive to the Yum brands of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC. The margins are as strong in the international markets and the room for aggressive growth is certainly prevalent.

Yum is executing on its strategy and should finish the year with earnings of $1.63 per share. For 2008 the company is endorsing $1.81-1.84. The upside to the numbers could come from the various concepts building strong same-store sales in the United States. The jury, however, is still out if the company's image has been re-built to the level it enjoyed before the nasty New York City incidents.

Georges Yared is the Chief Investment Strategist of Yared Investment Research.

YUM reports a yummy quarter originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yum, YUM: Rats don't scare stock, up 6% after Q1 earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 May 2007 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

McDonald's Corp.

Continue reading McDonald's welcomes more unions to Chinese stores

McDonald's welcomes more unions to Chinese stores originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Apr 2007 10:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.