Latest news with #YumChina
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Is Yum China (YUMC) Up 3.3% Since Last Earnings Report?
It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Yum China Holdings (YUMC). Shares have added about 3.3% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500. Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Yum China due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers. It turns out, estimates revision have trended downward during the past month. At this time, Yum China has a strong Growth Score of A, though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with an F. However, the stock was allocated a grade of B on the value side, putting it in the second quintile for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of A. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift. Notably, Yum China has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. 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 Yum China (YUMC) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Former Goldman Investment Banker Joins Yum China Board Of Directors
Former Goldman investment banker Grace Xin Ge has joined the board of directors at Yum China. Grace Xin Ge, a former managing director in the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs, has joined the board of directors of Yum China, the operator of KFC and Pizza Hut chains in China. Ge, 48, is the founding partner of G-Bridge Partners, an investment and advisory firm that focuses on cross-border business and venture scaling in Europe and Asia since September 2022, according to an announcement on Sunday. Earlier she was CFO of Baidu spinoff Du Xiaoman, a partner of Ares Management Private Equity Group, and a managing director at the investment banking division at Goldman Sachs. She worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Beijing and San Francisco from July 1998 to June 2003, according to her biography. Ge, who holds a Harvard MBA, is currently an independent director at Keep Inc., a Hong Kong-listed online fitness platform and solutions company, and Goldstream Investment Limited, an investment management company that is also listed in Hong Kong. Ge will be entitled to an annual retainer equal to $315,000 for her service as a director in accordance with the director compensation policy previously approved by the board of directors, payable in Yum China's common stock or, if requested by her, up to one-half in cash, Yum China said. She will be entitled to additional retainer for serving on any committees of the board of directors in accordance with the director compensation policy, the announcement said. Yum China's legal team doesn't allow the company to say where Ge is currently based, according to a Yum China manager. Yum China, a China spinoff from U.S.-listed Yum, has attracted customers to KFCs over the years with local eats such as tea eggs, salted egg yolk rice rolls, sweet pumpkin congee with lotus seeds, and red bean drink with sweet fermented rice. The company's CEO Joey Wat ranked No. 8 on a survey of China's most successful businesswomen published earlier this year by Forbes China, the Chinese-language edition of Forbes.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
YUMC Q1 Earnings Call: Flat Sales Amid Consumer Headwinds and Store Expansion in China
Fast-food company Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) fell short of the market's revenue expectations in Q1 CY2025, with sales flat year on year at $2.98 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.77 per share was in line with analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy YUMC? Find out in our full research report (it's free). Revenue: $2.98 billion vs analyst estimates of $3.1 billion (flat year on year, 3.7% miss) Adjusted EPS: $0.77 vs analyst estimates of $0.78 (in line) Adjusted EBITDA: $514 million vs analyst estimates of $538.7 million (17.2% margin, 4.6% miss) Operating Margin: 13.4%, in line with the same quarter last year Free Cash Flow Margin: 10.6%, up from 8.6% in the same quarter last year Locations: 16,642 at quarter end, up from 15,022 in the same quarter last year Same-Store Sales were flat year on year (-3% in the same quarter last year) Market Capitalization: $17.15 billion Yum China's first-quarter results reflected flat year-over-year sales, with management attributing performance to increased operational efficiency and ongoing product innovation across its KFC and Pizza Hut brands. CEO Joey Wat discussed the company's ability to sustain transaction growth, noting that menu enhancements and wider price ranges helped maintain customer engagement despite a challenging consumer environment. The company also expanded its store count, focusing on smaller formats and penetration into lower-tier cities. Looking forward, management emphasized a cautious approach to guidance, citing a complex and evolving market backdrop. The company reiterated its aim for mid-single-digit system sales growth over the year while prioritizing value, operational simplification, and efficiency gains. CFO Adrian Ding stated that the focus remains on controlling costs and leveraging automation to offset wage inflation and delivery-related expenses, with no material impact anticipated from tariffs due to local sourcing. Yum China's leadership provided additional color on the factors shaping quarterly results and future priorities, highlighting how product innovation, cost control, and strategic expansion underpinned operating performance in Q1. Menu innovation and value focus: KFC introduced new spicy versions of its flagship chicken and expanded seasonal offerings, while Pizza Hut's refreshed menu targeted affordability and operational simplicity. These actions were designed to attract new traffic and improve restaurant margins. Delivery growth and digital channels: Both KFC and Pizza Hut saw double-digit year-over-year growth in delivery transactions, with management noting that over 70% of sales remain outside third-party platforms, preserving margin control and customer relationships. Smaller store formats and market reach: The company continued to grow its footprint, with 70–80% of new stores built in smaller formats for lower-tier cities. This approach enables faster expansion and lower capital investment while maintaining healthy payback periods. Operational efficiency through automation: Initiatives like Project Red Eye and Project Fresh Eye have streamlined kitchen operations, simplified menus, and centralized processes, driving cost savings and supporting stable margins despite rising delivery and labor costs. Brand marketing and customer engagement: Yum China leveraged collaborations with popular intellectual properties (IPs) and new brand concepts such as KCOFFEE Cafes and Pizza Hut WOW stores to broaden its customer base, especially among younger demographics. Management outlined a measured growth outlook for the rest of the year, citing consumer caution and macroeconomic uncertainty, while reaffirming its strategy of value, innovation, and operational discipline. Store expansion pace: The company aims to open 1,600 to 1,800 net new stores this year, focusing on smaller, more cost-effective formats, but expects a lower revenue contribution per store due to their size and ramp-up period. Menu and product innovation: Ongoing introduction of new menu items and product lines, including expanded beverage options and value meals, is expected to drive incremental traffic and appeal to price-sensitive customers. Margin management focus: Management anticipates modest improvement in cost of sales and intends to offset labor inflation with automation and operational simplification, but flagged potential headwinds from increased delivery mix and year-over-year comparisons in the second half of the year. Lillian Liu (Morgan Stanley): Asked about competitive pressures from delivery aggregators and consumer demand trends. Management replied that April trends were stable, with minimal impact from delivery competitors, and emphasized a watchful stance on market shifts. Michelle Cheng (Goldman Sachs): Inquired about Pizza Hut's same-store sales and margin trajectory. Management explained the positive effect of menu changes and noted that all-you-can-eat campaigns would impact quarterly margin phasing but reaffirmed the margin outlook. Brian Bittner (Oppenheimer & Co.): Sought insight into Chinese consumer sentiment and KFC's transaction growth versus the industry. CEO Joey Wat highlighted continued transaction gains and market share growth, especially in delivery. Chen Luo (Bank of America): Questioned the lower revenue contribution from new stores amid rapid expansion. CFO Adrian Ding clarified that smaller stores and timing of openings explain the trend, noting that revenue contribution should normalize over time. Christine Peng (UBS): Asked about KCOFFEE's expansion and store-level economics. CEO Joey Wat described strong growth potential, incremental sales benefits, and positive profit impact due to shared resources and equipment. Looking ahead, the StockStory team will focus on (1) the pace and profitability of store expansion, particularly in lower-tier cities and with new concepts like KCOFFEE Cafes, (2) the sustainability of same-store transaction growth and margin management amid evolving consumer trends, and (3) further evidence of automation and menu innovation translating to cost savings. We will also monitor competitive dynamics in delivery and digital channels as key factors for future performance. Yum China currently trades at a forward P/E ratio of 16.8×. Should you double down or take your chips? The answer lies in our free research report. The market surged in 2024 and reached record highs after Donald Trump's presidential victory in November, but questions about new economic policies are adding much uncertainty for 2025. While the crowd speculates what might happen next, we're homing in on the companies that can succeed regardless of the political or macroeconomic environment. Put yourself in the driver's seat and build a durable portfolio by checking out our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 176% over the last five years. Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,754% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Yum China Holdings (YUMC) Q1 Earnings and Revenues Lag Estimates
Yum China Holdings (YUMC) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.77 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.78 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.71 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of -1.28%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this restaurant operator in China would post earnings of $0.29 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.30, delivering a surprise of 3.45%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. Yum China , which belongs to the Zacks Retail - Restaurants industry, posted revenues of $2.98 billion for the quarter ended March 2025, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.19%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $2.96 billion. The company has not been able to beat consensus revenue estimates over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Yum China shares have lost about 3.1% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's decline of -5.5%. While Yum China has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Yum China: mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.59 on $2.84 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $2.51 on $11.86 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Retail - Restaurants is currently in the bottom 17% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. One other stock from the same industry, Cava Group (CAVA), is yet to report results for the quarter ended March 2025. The results are expected to be released on May 15. This Mediterranean restaurant chain is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.14 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +16.7%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 1.7% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. Cava Group's revenues are expected to be $330.46 million, up 27.6% 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 Yum China (YUMC) : Free Stock Analysis Report CAVA Group, Inc. (CAVA) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
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Nikkei Asia
01-05-2025
- Business
- Nikkei Asia
China consumer belt-tightening constrains KFC operator, Starbucks
TOKYO -- Stagnant Chinese consumption is challenging global chains like KFC and Starbucks, while traditional local restaurant operators are also struggling to gain momentum. Yum China -- which runs KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and other eateries in mainland China -- on Wednesday night said its total revenue for the first quarter came to $2.98 billion, inching up by 1% on the year, while its net profit grew by 2% to $292 million.
