There is a decidedly global flavor to KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurants lately. And no, we're not talking about the Chalupa Baja -- this is about a global sales for these franchises and their parent company.

In recent years, operator Yum! Brands (YUM) has been growing at a breakneck pace, now with more than 3,500 locations in China alone and plans to open another 900 restaurants outside the U.S. in 2010. And the next global market that is in its sights is the United Kingdom, with a Taco Bell in Essex set to peddle low-priced burritos by the end of June.

Continue reading Expansion in UK the Latest Way Yum! Spices Up Global Sales

Expansion in UK the Latest Way Yum! Spices Up Global Sales originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 May 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Taco Bell Founder, Glen Bell, Dies

Taco Bell Founder, Glen Bell, Dies originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:40:00 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.

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.

McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD) showed itself to be recession resistant in its recent earnings release. But will the same be true for Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM), parent of such fast-food standbys as Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC?

Yum! Brands is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2008 results today after the market closes, and to discuss those results tomorrow, February 4, in a conference call at 9:15 AM ET. You can listen in to the call via the live webcast on the company's website.

Continue reading Earnings preview: Is Yum! Brands keeping up with McDonald's?

Earnings preview: Is Yum! Brands keeping up with McDonald's? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Taco Bell ordered to pay Chihuahua $42 million

Taco Bell ordered to pay Chihuahua $42 million originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Healthy eating is message from Taco Bell, KFC parent: Yum, what? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our Ads Gone Bad series. Share your thoughts and memories of this ad in the comments, and be sure to check out our other posts on marketing gone wrong.

Restaurant giant Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM) owns and operates several popular fast food chains like Pizza Hut, KFC, A&W, and of course Taco Bell. The Taco Bell chain features lower quality, packaged ingredients, frozen meats, and poultry, and all at low prices. Fair enough, it's a fast food joint and the food overall is okay-to-good -- depending on one's mood!

The Taco Bell dog featured in the advertising campaign that ended in 2000 was a Chihuahua, an almost rat-like creature. Cute? Yes. Annoying? Yes. I know because my family has a Chihuahua we call Gracie! The Hispanic community felt that the Chihuahua represented an ethnic stereotype. The dog was voiced-over with a Hispanic accent and the implication was very clear. Many Hispanics were especially annoyed because they do not consider Taco Bell's food authentic "home cooking."

Continue reading Ads Gone Bad: The Taco Bell Chihuahua

Ads Gone Bad: The Taco Bell Chihuahua originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 06 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about Taco Hell below in the comments.

Homer Simpson, when naming his first child, eliminated many monikers that he feared would invite rhyming nicknames (Screwy Louie, etc.) before choosing Bart (D'oh!). Combine this human propensity, the heat of Mexican food, and a soupçon of suspicion that low prices equal lower-quality ingredients, and the nickname for Taco Bell, Taco Hell, seems inevitable.

The YUM! Brands (NYSE: YUM) chain was born in the same town and at the same time as Mickey D's -- San Bernardino, California. There Glen Bell began selling 19-cent tacos, made possible by his innovation, using pre-fried taco shells. His restaurants, then know as Taco Tia, spread throughout southern California. In Redlands, the football L.A. Rams players who trained nearby began flocking to Bell's shop, and two of them became his first franchisees. In 1962, Bell sold out his share of the existing restaurants, now called El Tacos, and started Taco Bell. He took the company public in 1966 and sold his holdings to PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) in 1975.

Shortly thereafter, the chain went international. It continued to grow thanks in part to savvy marketing, including one promotion offering a free taco to everyone in the U.S. if the Russian Mir space station, on its fall from orbit, were to hit a floating taco target in the Pacific. (It didn't.)

Continue reading Company nicknames: Taco Bell, a circle of Taco Hell?

Company nicknames: Taco Bell, a circle of Taco Hell? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 10 Aug 2008 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Referring to his long-recommended position in YUM! Brands (NYSE: YUM), Louis Basenese exclaims, "I've spent 1,308 days tracking its price movements and written 11,239 words expounding its virtues."

Indeed, the associate Investment Director for The Oxford Club states, "If I could only recommend one stock to own for the next decade, hands down YUM! Brands would be the one."

"YUM! Brands, operator of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, is quietly transforming itself into an international juggernaut. Today, roughly half of its operations and profits come from outside our borders. Tomorrow (okay, not that quickly, but soon), more than two thirds of its business will be based outside the United States.

"And the transition and timing couldn't be more perfect. More than half the word's investable market capitalization is now outside the United States. And that percentage keeps growing.

Continue reading Yum Brands! (YUM): A stock pick for the next decade

Yum Brands! (YUM): A stock pick for the next decade originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 May 2008 10:10:00 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.

Free tacos tomorrow! Taco Bell's World Series promo pays up originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Taco Bell trots out stolen base promotion for World Series

Taco Bell trots out stolen base promotion for World Series originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:56:00 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 (NYSE: YUM) implied volatility suggests flat earnings per share (EPS) risk:

YUM will report EPS after the close on October 8th. CIBC says "YUM's solid global portfolio leaves it on-track to meet annual guidance. We also look for a div and potential buyback increase in 2H07." YUM July option implied volatility of 34 is above its 26-week average of 27 and below a level prior to its previous EPS release in July according to Track Data, suggesting flat near term EPS risk.

Taser (NASDAQ: TASR) 81cents to $17.39 on more unconfirmed rumors of contracts wins:

Recent unconfirmed chatter is circulating about a French government win. TASR October option implied volatility of 64 is above its 26-week average of 55 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Daily options update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Option update 10-4-07: YUM! Brands (YUM) implied volatility suggests flat EPS risk originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Subway falls from lead in NASCAR series sponsor stakes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 30 Aug 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC) September implied volatility Elevated at 38. ZLC, an operator of 2,300 retail jewelry stores, closed Monday at $22.02. Goldman Sachs says, "We are downgrading ZLC to Sell from Neutral as growing macro headwinds, management upheaval, and poor strategic positioning will likely further pressure earnings." Signet Group (NYSE: SIG), a specialty jewelry retailer, terminated merger talks with ZLC in June 2006. ZLC overall option implied volatility of 38 is above its 26-week average of 30 according to Track Data, indicating larger price risks.

YUM! Brands (NYSE: YUM) implied volatility Elevated into Analyst meeting. YUM closed Monday at $32.72. YUM will host investor meetings in Beijing on September 6-7. Smith Barney has a Buy rating and $38 price target on YUM. SBSH says "YUM's China business is material to the overall business TODAY, representing about 20% of company-wide revenue and 23% of profits." YUM overall option implied volatility of 31 is above its 26-week average of 24 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Option update: Zales (ZLC) & YUM! Brands (YUM) volatility up originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Aug 2007 11:00:00 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.

Taco Bell sued originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.