Poor Yum! Brands (YUM). The company has some high-profile trademarks in its portfolio, and it competes vigorously with Burger King (BKC), McDonald's (MCD), and Wendy's/Arby's Group (WEN). It's a competent player in its field. Sometimes, though, that just isn't enough. Tuesday, during the after-hours action, the stock was sold off, losing over 3% of its value.

And this was after the owner of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell beat earnings expectations in the second quarter. It's a funny thing, though: You can top estimates all you want, but if your guidance isn't so hot, your stock isn't guaranteed to respond in the positive direction.

Yum! Brands (YUM), owner of KFC and Taco Bell, operates in the same industry as McDonald's (MCD), Burger King (BKC), and Wendy's/Arby's Group (WEN). All of these stocks are either at or near their respective 52-week highs. How does Yum! Brands look after its first-quarter report?

You've got to take notice of this stock. The one-year chart depicts an equity that consolidated for a while, only to finally break out and head to the upside. And here's some more good news for both traders and investors alike: Wednesday, the shares closed the regular session 1.8% higher from where they started. Then, during the after-hours session, following distribution of the earnings release, the bulls, deciding they wanted to remain in charge, gave the company another boost.

Burger King (BKC), which competes for the attention of fast-food junkies along with McDonald's (MCD), Wendy's/Arby's Group (WEN), and Yum! Brands (YUM), didn't do too badly when it came to bottom-line growth in the second quarter. Same-store sales, on the other hand, could have used a little assistance.

Earnings per share calculated out to 37 cents. That was good for a 12% increase. Great to see double-digit appreciation. However, domestic comps went down 3.3%, while total comps were off by 2%. The same-store sales metric is a very important indicator of the overall health of a business that has many locations.

Yum! Brands (YUM), whose colleagues include McDonald's (MCD), Burger King (BKC), and Wendy's/Arby's Group (WEN), sold off this afternoon as the market digested the fourth-quarter earnings news that was released on Wednesday after the bell. I will say, even though this report wasn't a complete disaster, it also wasn't the most exciting document I've ever read.

Sales went down 1%, and earnings per share on an adjusted basis increased 7% to 50 cents. Earnings.com says 48 cents per share was the desired figure. Same-store sales in the United States decreased 8%.

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%.

At the time of this writing, shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), a company that competes with McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Burger King (NYSE: BKC), and Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN), were trading higher by well over 4%. Volume was doing well, too. Interestingly enough, Yum! Brands will be reporting Q3 earnings on Tuesday, October 6, after the bell. Does this mean that you should buy in ahead of the release?

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.

If you're trying to get your head around some stock strategies for the upcoming fall trading season, you might want to consider dividend yields. Volatility could increase since we've had such a run-up in many equities, so thinking about payouts is probably advisable.

I was looking around for some higher-yielding blue chips and became interested in McDonald's (NYSE: MCD). As of last Friday's closing price, McDonald's yields almost 3.6% on an annual basis. It pays out 50 cents per share per quarter according to its corporate website.

Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), a chain of restaurant trademarks that competes with McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Burger King (NYSE: BKC), and Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN), delivered up a nice hot serving of earnings on Tuesday after the bell.

For the second quarter, net sales dropped 7%. Earnings on an adjusted basis increased 10% to 50 cents per share. This was actually much better than analysts' expectations. Wall Street was only counting on 43 cents per share, according to Bloomberg. However, the market is always looking forward, so there was a bit of bad news in terms of guidance pertaining to same-store sales.

Sonic (NASDAQ: SONC), a fast-food chain whose colleagues include Burger King (NYSE: BKC), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN), and Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), reported earnings for the third quarter on Tuesday after the bell. The shares have done well today on the news. As I write this, Sonic's stock is up well over 12% in afternoon trading. Volume is great. Do you want to get in on the action?

Sonic said it earned an adjusted 24 cents per share. This article reported expectations as being $0.20 per share, so management beat the bottom line by a nice amount. We'll throw that result on the positive side of the line.

Burger King (NYSE: BKC), a fast-food joint that competes with McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), and Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN), issued its Q3 report on Wednesday. The top line didn't do much, rising only 1% in the face of difficulties with currency translations. Earnings came in at 34 cents per share. That was one penny better than Wall Street's expectations, according to Reuters.

It's always good to beat the earnings call. But Burger King didn't get much mileage out of that victory. The stock actually sold off 3% on the news, closing yesterday at a fresh 52-week low of $16.55. The big catalyst was the conservative fiscal-year guidance.

Sonic (NASDAQ: SONC), the drive-in fast-food joint that competes with McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN), Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), and Burger King (NYSE: BKC), reported second-quarter earnings after the bell on Monday. You know that video-game character Sonic the Hedgehog? Know how he's fast? Well, Sonic the burger server is unlike Sonic the software character right now when it comes to growing its business.

Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN), a fast-food company that competes with McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD), Burger King (NYSE: BKC), and Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), reported earnings for the fourth quarter on Monday. Call me unimpressed.

The chain earned $0.05 per share on an adjusted basis. According to this article, the results matched expectations. I don't begrudge Wendy's/Arby's for doing that in such a tough marketplace. But I do begrudge the weakness in the Arby's brand. Systemwide same-store sales at Wendy's were up 3.7% in Q4, while systemwide comps at Arby's were down a terrible 8.5%. Arby's is having problems attracting people with its current menu portfolio. The value menu at Wendy's, on the other hand, seems to be a strategy that is working. Customers are coming in, ready to get a deal on those delicious, although not-so-healthy, square-shaped burgers. So, if the company wants to improve its situation, it's going to have to get serious about fixing Arby's.

Burger King (NYSE: BKC), a famous fast-food joint that competes with McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), and Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN), reported earnings for the fiscal second quarter on Thursday. Net sales decreased 3%, and net income dipped 8% to $0.33 per diluted share. The call was for $0.37 per share.

It's good to be the King, but it's not good to miss your earnings forecast. Yes, we shouldn't always pay attention to the analysts and their game, and it's certainly difficult these days to make forecasts anyway, but it's always nice to see a company at least hit the ballpark in terms of consensus.

The press release cited concerns with currency translations, so that's something for shareholders to keep in mind. But the release also cited something that I think is one of the best elements of the Burger King story: its marketing campaigns. Management was happy to congratulate itself on being highlighted by trade journal Ad Week. I know, it's just corporate bragging in an earnings document, who needs that, right? While that may be true, I do honestly believe that Burger King's TV spots have definitely built a loyal following among the valuable youthful demos, and that the campaigns, which have included that creepy royal mascot, are indeed responsible for growth. And those Whopper Virgins commercials were pretty funny, too.

Burger King Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BKC), which competes with Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN), and, of course, McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD), reported earnings today for the first fiscal quarter. The statistics show that, well, it kind of is good to be the king. I won't say these are the biggest growth numbers I've ever seen, but I thought they showed that the fast-food entity is doing well serving its core customers.

Revenues jumped 12%. On a global basis, comps jumped 3.6%, which management points out is the 19th time in a row that global comps were in positive-growth territory. I know, that's the kind of managerial cheerleading that an investor must be careful about, but I think it's a cool fact in this case. Domestically, comps advanced 3%, and, well, it's the 18th time in a row for that metric, if you care. Adjusted net income came in at $0.38 per share, a 9% increase. This is where the creepy Burger King mascot sheds a tear, because that was one penny below the expectations of the analyst wizards who populate the kingdom of Wall Street (according to Melly Alazraki's Before the Bell article from earlier today).

Although Burger King didn't please the analyst community, I thought this was a good quarter. The release said that the company purchased some stock and paid a dividend, all of which was covered by cash generated from operations. Management seems to be amply aware of the stresses that the economy is going to put on its patrons and is studying pricing strategies. That's the problem for every purveyor of foodstuffs. People aren't so keen about paying up for stuff these days, so how do you get them to do it? Costs and currency fluctuations are affecting many companies, and they won't have an easy go of it as the recession continues its march of pain (even with the recent upward moves in the stock market, I'm not that bullish just yet). So, even though I like Burger King's Q1, and even though I think it's a great marketer of its menu items (the youth really dig that creepy Burger King character), I'll concede that the stock could be volatile in the coming months. Long-term, though, it should be a good investment.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), which competes with Burger King (NYSE: BKC), Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN), and Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), will be reporting earnings for the third quarter tomorrow. I have a feeling many shareholders will be resting easy this week. I don't think McDonald's will have a big earnings miss.

According to Earnings.com, Mickey D's should earn 97 cents per share. If management can meet those expectations, that's earnings growth of about 17%. That's tasty in this market. Here's the kicker: McDonald's beat earnings estimates the last two quarters by wide margins. Will the company do the same thing this week? I think there's a decent chance it will. Even though there's a bear market going on, gas prices have been dropping, and you figure that has to be good for the drive-thru. Plus, there's that affordable-menu option that has driven a lot of brand equity over the last several years for the fast-food giant. I'm sure many patrons appreciate that in a tough period.

Besides earnings, investors will focus on same-store sales. That metric is one of the best indicators of a company that is made up of many locations. It's really no different than retailing. I'll be interested to see how the domestic market is faring compared to the international markets. Another thing I'll be interested in seeing is how inflation is affecting Ronald and his empire. We all know that Ronnie is a clown who likes to bestow happiness among all his customers, but reality likes to ruin parades every now and then. In this case, McDonald's has to keep a constant eye on the issue of pricing.