Zacks Research Estimates Yum! Brands’ Q1 Earnings (NYSE:YUM)

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) – Zacks Research upped their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Yum! Brands in a research report issued on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the restaurant operator will earn $1.37 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.34. The consensus estimate for Yum! Brands’ current full-year earnings is $5.94 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Yum! Brands’ Q2 2026 earnings at $1.58 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.65 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.00 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $6.60 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.42 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $1.65 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $1.83 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $2.31 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $7.20 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $7.96 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on YUM. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $177.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $179.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $160.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, November 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.00.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $163.14 on Friday. Yum! Brands has a 52 week low of $137.33 and a 52 week high of $165.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $156.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.15.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.03). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 18.98%.The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.61 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 679.2% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 81.7% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jessup Wealth Management Inc acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 1,612 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.63, for a total value of $265,383.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Aaron Powell sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.44, for a total transaction of $1,937,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,365,096. This represents a 45.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,888 shares of company stock valued at $2,244,938. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.17%.

More Yum! Brands News

Here are the key news stories impacting Yum! Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised key near-term and longer-term estimates — notable upgrades include Q4 2027 EPS to $2.31 (from $2.18), Q4 2026 EPS to $2.00 (from $1.92), FY2026 to $6.60 (from $6.50), and FY2028 to $7.96. These increases imply stronger expected profitability in later quarters and modest upward revision to multi-year growth assumptions. Zacks Research raises
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks also nudged up Q1 2026 and Q2 2026 estimates (to $1.37 and $1.58 EPS respectively) — small but constructive for 2026 quarterly cadence and the FY2026 raise. Zacks Q1/Q2 2026 updates
• Neutral Sentiment: One included item (Fortune piece about Les Wexner and Jeffrey Epstein) is unrelated to Yum’s operations or outlook and should have minimal direct impact on YUM fundamentals. Les Wexner article
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks trimmed several 2026–2027 quarterly estimates and FY2027 slightly — cuts include Q1 2027 to $1.42 (from $1.43), Q2 2027 to $1.65 (from $1.72), Q3 2027 to $1.83 (from $1.89), Q3 2026 to $1.65 (from $1.66), and FY2027 to $7.20 (from $7.21). These downward tweaks signal more cautious near-term margin or growth assumptions for parts of 2027. Zacks Research cuts

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc (NYSE: YUM) is a global quick-service restaurant company that develops, operates and franchises a portfolio of well-known restaurant brands. The company’s principal brands are KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, each focused on distinct product categories—KFC on fried chicken and related menu items, Pizza Hut on pizza and complementary offerings, and Taco Bell on Mexican-inspired quick-service food. Yum! is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and was formed as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant businesses, later adopting the Yum! Brands name.

The company’s operating model centers on brand development, system growth and franchising; a large portion of its restaurants are operated by independent franchisees, and Yum! generates revenue through franchise royalties and fees in addition to sales from company-operated locations.