Yum! Brands Inc

Yum! Brands owns four restaurant chains: KFC (chicken), Taco Bell (Mexican-style tacos and burritos), Pizza Hut (pizza for delivery, carryout and dine-in) and Habit Burger & Grill (chargrilled burgers). As of December 31, 2025, the chains had 63,285 restaurants in 155 countries and territories, and 72% of them were international. KFC is the largest, with 33,897 units.

Yum runs few of these restaurants itself. About 1,500 independent franchisees operate 97% of units. A franchisee is a business that pays to use a brand and pays for its own buildings and equipment. Franchisees pay upfront fees plus a royalty of typically 4% to 6% of sales, and they must spend on advertising. The largest is Yum China, spun off in 2016. It pays Yum 3% of sales in mainland China, where it runs more than 17,000 units.

Fiscal 2025 revenue was $8.2 billion. Of that, 42.3% came from franchise royalties, fees and rent, 35.9% from sales at company-owned restaurants and 21.9% from franchisee payments for advertising and other services. By brand, KFC supplied 43.1%, Taco Bell 37.7%, Pizza Hut 12.3% and Habit 6.9%. Taco Bell and Habit bring in more revenue than their store counts suggest because Yum owns more of those restaurants and records their full sales. Yum began reviewing strategic options for Pizza Hut in 2025. As of its annual report filed February 20, 2026, it aimed to finish the review in 2026, and no outcome was guaranteed.

• In Q2 FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $2.17B, up 12.2% from a year earlier, and net income was $853.0M (+128.1%).
• For fiscal 2025, revenue was $8.21B (+8.8% year over year; +7.8% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 19% net margin.

• Over FY2021–FY2025: $3.83B in buybacks and $3.46B in dividends.
• Regular dividend per share increased 8 years in a row.
• Regular dividends per share grew +8.6% a year over 5 years (FY2020–FY2025).
• Dividends took 50.6% of earnings and 48.1% of free cash flow in the latest fiscal year.
• Shares outstanding changed -6.9% from Oct 28, 2021 to Jul 30, 2026.

Rank among 1514 US companies

Market value at each year end

Yum! Brands’s market value went from $24.69B at the end of 2016 to $43.01B on Nov 2, 2026, up 74%; since the end of 2025 it is up 2%.

Form 4 filings from 2025-10-27 to 2026-10-27 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 27 sales ($5.0M), 26 of them under pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans.

Large shareholders (13G filings)

ETFs with the most weight in YUM

1. Heavy reliance on China through Yum China. Yum's brands have over 17,000 units in mainland China, where Yum China, its largest franchisee, pays it fees. A Chinese slowdown, or US or Chinese tax claims tied to the 2016 spin-off, could hurt results.
2. Pizza Hut review could disrupt the business. Yum began reviewing strategic options for Pizza Hut in 2025. Its annual report warns the process may produce no deal, may not deliver the hoped-for benefits, and could itself hurt the business.
3. Reliance on franchisees Yum can't fully control. Franchisees run 97% of restaurants. If they open fewer new units, take on too much debt or run stores poorly, Yum collects less in fees and its brands can suffer.
4. Food safety scares and bird flu. A food-borne illness outbreak linked to any Yum brand could damage its reputation and force temporary closures. Because chicken is central to KFC, bird flu could scare customers or push up poultry prices.
5. A large debt load. Total debt was about $15.1 billion against $674 million of cash as of June 30, 2026. Yum says this makes it more sensitive to downturns and ties up significant cash in debt payments.
6. Currency swings and overseas instability. With 72% of restaurants outside the US at the end of 2025, a stronger dollar shrinks the value of foreign fees, and exchange controls, political instability or conflict abroad can hurt sales.

• Sep 1, 2026 Executive or board change; Investor presentation or announcement; Other company announcement
• Aug 21, 2026 Executive or board change
• Aug 7, 2026 Major agreement signed; Acquisition or sale of assets completed; Investor presentation or announcement
• Jul 30, 2026 Quarterly results released
• Jun 16, 2026 Major agreement signed; Other company announcement
• Jun 16, 2026 Investor presentation or announcement
• Jun 2, 2026 Executive or board change
• May 19, 2026 Shareholder vote results
• Apr 29, 2026 Quarterly results released
• Apr 1, 2026 Executive or board change

Yum has raised its dividend for eight straight years through 2025. Dividends per share grew from $1.88 in 2020 to $2.84 in 2025, about 8.6% a year. In 2025 dividends used 50.6% of earnings and 48.1% of free cash flow (cash left after running and investing in the business). From 2021 through 2025, Yum spent $3.83 billion on buybacks (repurchases of its own shares) and $3.46 billion on dividends; the share count fell 6.9% between October 2021 and July 2026. Total debt was about $15.1 billion as of June 30, 2026. The yield was 1.97% as of October 28, 2026, so the appeal is more dividend growth than high current income.

In past downturns the stock fell 45.5% in the 2008 financial crisis, regaining its peak about 16.5 months after the low; 46.3% in the 2020 COVID crash (about 7.8 months); and 22.2% in the 2022 bear market (about 6 months). Single stocks carry more risk than diversified funds.