Shares of Yum Brands Inc. fell. rose 2.2% in pre-market trading on Wednesday after the company reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and revenue.
The parent company of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC fast-food restaurants reported net income of $463 million, or $1.62 per share, compared with net income of $371 million, or $1.29 per share, in the prior-year quarter. On a rate basis, yum yum,
It reported earnings of $1.26 per share, compared with $1.32 per share in the same period last year, and below the FactSet consensus of $1.40. Yum Brands said its earnings were impacted by a 23-cent headwind due to fluctuations in its quarterly tax rate.
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Revenue rose 1% to $2.04 billion from $2.02 billion in the same period last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were looking for sales of $2.11 billion. The company's same-store sales grew 1%. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were looking for same-store sales growth of 3.7%.
Yum's KFC division had 2% same-store sales growth during the fourth quarter, compared to 5% growth in the year-earlier quarter, while Taco Bell's division had 3% same-store sales growth, compared to 11% growth. In the previous quarter. The same period last year. Pizza Hut's division saw same-store sales decline 2%, compared to growth of 1% in the same quarter last year.
Related: Yum's KFC division has agreed to acquire more than 200 KFC restaurants in the UK and Ireland from franchisee EG Group.
During 2023, Yum said it opened a record 4,754 total units. “We have also made tremendous strides in scaling our digital and AI-driven ecosystem in partnership with our franchisees,” David Gibbs, CEO of Yum Brands, said in a statement. He added that in 2024, the company expects to exceed 30,000 KFC restaurants, 20,000 Pizza Hut restaurants, and more than 60,000 Yum restaurants globally.
Yum shares have fallen 3.2% over the past 52 weeks, compared with the S&P 500's gain of 20.3%.
