JPMorgan upgrades this restaurant chain, seeing stronger global unit growth and cash flow
JPMorgan sees a rosy outlook ahead for Yum Brands . The bank upgraded shares of the Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut owner to an overweight investment rating from neutral, but analyst John Ivankoe lowered his 12-month price target to $162 per share from $170. This revised forecast is still approximately 14% higher than where shares closed Tuesday. Yum has added more than 6% this year, outperforming a gain of less than 4% for the S & P 500. YUM YTD mountain YUM YTD chart Ivankoe cited several catalysts for the stock, including strong free cash flow generation, a lower valuation and sustained unit growth of 4% or above. The stock "is close to levels first hit in late 2021 and deserves a revisit in our opinion," the analyst wrote. Ivankoe said that newly-appointed Yum CEO Chris Turner, who takes over in October, is likely to continue focusing on technology in order to drive franchisee returns. Outside the U.S., sales remain strong at Yum's international locations. "Within the 4.2% global unit growth, China represents a still very high 8.8% annual growth as implied by [Yum China] while Pizza Hut ex-China is down 1% and KFC intl ex-China is up 4.5%," JPMorgan said. "We expect the high returning Taco Bell to grow 4% globally with 3% from the U.S."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Paychex Q4 Earnings & Revenues Surpass Estimates, Increase Y/Y
Paychex, Inc. PAYX has reported impressive fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 results, wherein earnings and revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate. PAYX's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $1.19 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a slight margin and increased 6.3% from the year-ago quarter. Total revenues of $1.4 billion surpassed the consensus estimate by a slight margin and gained 10% from the year-ago quarter. The company's shares have risen 33.4% in a year compared with the 35.2% and 11% rallies of the industry and the Zacks S&P 500 composite, respectively. Paychex, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Paychex, Inc. Quote Revenues from the Management Solutions segment increased 12% year over year to $1 billion, beating our estimate of $979 million. Paycor's buyout and higher revenues per client, resulting from price realization and product penetration, facilitated this growth. Professional employer organization ('PEO') and Insurance Solutions' revenues were $340.3 million, up 4% from the year-ago quarter. The figure met our estimate. Growth in the number of average PEO worksite employees and a surge in PEO insurance revenues contributed to this segment's growth. Service revenues gained 10% year over year to $1.4 billion, exceeding our projection of $1.3 billion. Interest on funds held for clients rose 18% from the year-ago quarter to $45.2 million, surpassing our estimation of $37.4 million. EBITDA of $518.2 million dropped 1% from the year-ago quarter, missing our estimate of $657.9 million. Operating income decreased 11% year over year to $431.1 million, missing our projection of $615.4 million. The operating margin was 30.2%, down 700 basis points from the year-ago quarter. The reported figure beat our estimate of 43.5%. The company exited the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 with cash and cash equivalents of $1.6 billion, flat with the preceding quarter. The long-term debt totaled $4.5 billion compared with $799 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2025. Cash generated from operating activities amounted to $394 million, while the capital expenditure totaled $60.5 million. Paychex expects revenues to grow 16.5-18.5%. The management raised its expectation for interest on funds held for clients to $190-$200 million compared with the preceding quarter's view of $145-$155 million. The company carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Fiserv, Inc. FI registered mixed first-quarter 2025 results. FI's adjusted earnings per share of $2.14 beat the consensus mark by 2.9% and gained 13.8% year over year. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.) Adjusted revenues of $4.8 billion missed the consensus estimate by 1.6% but gained 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. FactSet FDS reported the results for the third quarter of fiscal 2025. FDS's earnings per share of $4.27 missed the consensus mark by a slight margin and decreased 2.3% from the year-ago quarter. Revenues of $585.5 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a slight margin and gained 5.9% from the year-ago quarter. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) : Free Stock Analysis Report FactSet Research Systems Inc. (FDS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Fiserv, Inc. (FI) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
CNBC
38 minutes ago
- CNBC
These are the stocks that led the S&P 500's incredible comeback from the April lows
Risk stocks are back in vogue as the S & P 500 sits on the cusp of a new high. Animal spirits are again taking the market reign as investors' fears have taken a breather, largely due to President Donald Trump walking back some of his most extreme tariff policies and the administration making progress on trade war de-escalation efforts. A boost in corporate artificial intelligence spending has also accelerated gains and put the index back in the green for the year. The S & P 500 on Wednesday hovered just below 6,147.43, its intraday record set on Feb. 19, and also within reach of its closing all-time high of 6,144.15. At its April 8 low, the index saw a sharp sell-off that took it below 5,000 points for the first time in nearly one year. Leading the S & P 500's swift comeback since its early April bottom are the market's riskiest, highest beta tech and artificial intelligence-related stocks. Coinbase , Palantir Technologies and Vistra are among the index's top gainers during this revival, but some of these leaders could take a slight step back after their recent run-up. Coinbase shares have ripped higher by more than 127% since April 8. The stock has benefited from Trump's love for cryptocurrencies and surged after the Senate passed the GENIUS Act , which would establish a federal framework for U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins. Coinbase, which co-founded the USDC stablecoin, jumped on the back of the announcement. Stablecoins are Coinbase's biggest revenue driver after its trading business. Shares of Coinbase are up roughly 41% year to date. After its recent tear, however, analysts polled by Wall Street have an average price target that implies the stock could lose more than 17%. To be sure, some pockets of Wall Street remain bullish. Bernstein on Wednesday reiterated its outperform rating and hiked its price target to $510, which implies about 48% potential upside from Tuesday's close. Several energy plays have ripped higher since early April. Vistra, Constellation Energy , GE Vernova and NRG Energy have each been considered AI energy plays by investors, and interest is picking back up as hyperscaler spending levels remain strong. NRG Energy, for one, earlier this year announced a venture to build four new natural gas power plants in the U.S. to generate power for AI data centers. Constellation Energy has also turned its attention to data center projects that connect to the U.S. electrical grid, rather than fueling warehouses directly from the company's own power plants. Shares of NRG and GE Vernova have each rallied nearly 80%, while Vistra has bounced back roughly 82% between April 8 and June 25. Chipmakers including Microchip Technology and Advanced Micro Devices have also ridden the AI wave, but could be poised for muted gains ahead, according to analysts' consensus targets on each stock. The stocks have jumped about 99% and 77% since April 8, respectively. Palantir , another Wall Street favorite known to be a high-risk, high-reward name, could also be overvalued as analysts see significant declines ahead of about 25%. Shares of the data analytics software vendor have soared nearly 89% this year — with about 85% of those gains occurring since the market's April bottom — as its contracts with the U.S. government and defense businesses surge.
Forbes
39 minutes ago
- Forbes
Daily Dividend: Mastercard, McCormick, GBCI, Worthington, SPGI
Mastercard today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 76 cents per share. The cash dividend will be paid on August 8, 2025 to holders of record of its Class A common stock and Class B common stock as of July 9, 2025. 10 Oversold Dividend Stocks » The Board of Directors of McCormick declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share on its common stocks, payable July 21, 2025 to shareholders of record July 7, 2025. This is the 101st year of consecutive dividend payments by the Company. Glacier Bancorp's Board of Directors, at a meeting held on June 24, 2025, declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share. The Company has declared 161 consecutive quarterly dividends and has increased the dividend 49 times. The dividend is payable on July 17, 2025, to owners of record on July 8, 2025. The Worthington Enterprises board of directors today declared a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share, which represents an increase of $0.02 per share or 12% from the prior quarter. The dividend is payable on September 29, 2025, to shareholders of record on September 15, 2025. The Company has paid a quarterly dividend since its initial public offering in 1968. The Board of Directors of S&P Global has approved a cash dividend on the Corporation's common stock for the third quarter of 2025. The dividend of $0.96 is payable on September 10, 2025, to shareholders of record on August 26, 2025. The annualized dividend rate is $3.84 per share. The Company has paid a dividend each year since 1937 and is one of fewer than 30 companies in the S&P 500® that has increased its dividend annually for more than 50 years. Other Top Dividends
