Yum! Brands Reports Third-Quarter Results

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CHRIS TURNER COMMENTS

Chris Turner, CEO, said "I’m thrilled to step into the role as the CEO, and thankful to David for his contributions to Yum! and making the transition as seamless as possible. Over the past several months, I’ve engaged with Yum!’s leaders, franchise partners, team members, and shareholders to better understand how we can unlock even greater value together. Going forward, my three priorities for driving growth will be staying relevant with the next generation of consumers, leveraging our global scale to strengthen franchisees’ store-level economics, and expanding Byte across more restaurants worldwide. I’ve been proud to be a part of the unrivaled culture and talent that define the Yum! system, and it’s an honor to lead this global business. With a strong foundation in place, we are well positioned to build on our momentum and deliver sustained value for all our stakeholders."

STRATEGIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

• We announced the initiation of a process to explore strategic options for the Pizza Hut brand to maximize long-term value creation for Yum!, Pizza Hut, and its franchise partners. With strong brand equity, significant scale, and an experienced global franchise base, Pizza Hut is well-positioned to reclaim leadership in the fragmented pizza category.
• We expect to complete the acquisition of 128 Taco Bell restaurants across the Southeast U.S. in the fourth quarter. This acquisition will strengthen our equity-owned restaurant base with high-margin, mature assets, contribute to EBITDA and operating profit growth and unlock significant new development opportunities while reinforcing our role in leading the U.S. system through equity operations.
• We announced new leadership appointments effective October 1. Ranjith Roy has been promoted to Yum! Brands Chief Financial Officer. Sean Tresvant will now serve as Taco Bell Chief Executive Officer and Yum! Brands Chief Consumer Officer. Jim Dausch has been promoted to Yum! Brands Chief Digital & Technology Officer and President of Byte by Yum!.

THIRD-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

• Worldwide system sales grew 5%, excluding foreign currency translation, led by Taco Bell at 9% and KFC at 6%.
• Unit count increased 3% including 1,131 gross new units in the quarter.
• Record digital system sales reaching $10 billion, with record digital mix of approximately 60%.
• Foreign currency translation favorably impacted divisional operating profit by $7 million.

KFC DIVISION

• KFC Division opened 760 gross new restaurants across 60 countries.
• Company-owned restaurant margins were 13.7%, up 120 basis points year-over-year.
• Foreign currency translation favorably impacted operating profit by $7 million.

TACO BELL DIVISION

• Taco Bell Division opened 74 gross new restaurants across 14 countries.
• Taco Bell U.S. system sales grew 9% and Taco Bell International system sales, excluding foreign currency translation, grew 12%.
• Taco Bell U.S. same-store sales grew 7% and Taco Bell International same-store sales grew 6%.
• Taco Bell U.S. company-owned restaurant margins were 23.9%, a 50 basis point increase year-over-year.

PIZZA HUT DIVISION

• Pizza Hut Division opened 289 gross new restaurants across 31 countries.
• Foreign currency translation had a negligible impact on operating profit.

HABIT BURGER & GRILL DIVISION

• Habit Burger & Grill Division opened 8 gross new restaurants.
• Habit Burger & Grill Division system sales grew 3% and same-store sales grew 1%.

OTHER ITEMS

• During the third quarter of 2025 a subsidiary of Taco Bell Corp. issued $1.5 billion of Securitization Notes. Proceeds were used to repay existing debt and will be used for general corporate purposes including purchases of franchised restaurants.
• See reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measurements to GAAP results within this release for further detail of Special Items by financial statement line item including the impact of Special Items on General and administrative expenses.
• Disclosures pertaining to outstanding debt in our Restricted Group capital structure will be provided at the time of the filing of the third-quarter Form 10-Q.

LONG-TERM GROWTH ALGORITHM

• The Company targets the following long-term financial performance metrics, first announced in 2022, that it believes it can achieve over an extended period of time, on average:
  • 5% Unit Growth
  • 7% System Sales Growth, excluding F/X and 53rd week; and
  • At least 8% Core Operating Profit Growth, excluding F/X and 53rd week³

CONFERENCE CALL

Yum! Brands, Inc. will host a conference call to review the company's financial performance and strategies at 8:15 a.m. Eastern Time November 4, 2025. The number is 646/844-6383 for U.S. callers, 833/950-0062 for Canada callers, and +1/646-844-6383 for international callers, conference ID 604941.

The call will be available for playback beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time November 4, 2025 through November 11, 2025. To access the playback, dial 866/813-9403 in the U.S., 226/828-7578 in Canada, and +1/929-458-6194 internationally, conference ID 462141.

The webcast and the playback can be accessed by visiting Yum! Brands' website, investors.yum.com/events-and-presentations and selecting “Q3 2025 Yum! Brands, Inc. Earnings Call.”

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ONLINE

Quarter-end dates for each division, restaurant count details, definitions of terms and Restricted Group financial information are available at investors.yum.com. Reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in our Condensed Consolidated Summary of Results.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This announcement may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We intend all forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and by the use of forward-looking words such as “expect,” “expectation,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “may,” “could,” “intend,” “belief,” “plan,” “estimate,” “target,” “predict,” “likely,” “seek,” “project,” “model,” “ongoing,” “will,” “should,” “forecast,” “outlook” or similar terminology. These statements are based on and reflect our current expectations, estimates, assumptions and/ or projections, our perception of historical trends and current conditions, as well as other factors that we believe are appropriate and reasonable under the circumstances. Forward-looking statements are neither predictions nor guarantees of future events, circumstances or performance and are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by those statements. There can be no assurance that our expectations, estimates, assumptions and/or projections, including with respect to the future earnings and performance or capital structure of Yum! Brands, will prove to be correct or that any of our expectations, estimates or projections will be achieved.

Numerous factors could cause our actual results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: food safety and food- or beverage-borne illness concerns; adverse impacts of health epidemics, deterioration in public health conditions or the occurrence of other catastrophic or unforeseen events; the success and financial stability of our concepts’ franchisees, particularly in light of challenging macroeconomic conditions; the success of our development strategy; anticipated benefits from past or potential future acquisitions, investments, other strategic transactions or initiatives, or our portfolio business model; the possibility that we may not be able to realize the anticipated benefits of a strategic review of the Pizza Hut business or any potential transaction involving Pizza Hut; our significant exposure to the Chinese market; our global operations and related exposure to geopolitical instability, including as a result of the Middle East conflict as well as the expansion or threatened expansion of restrictive trade policies which could also impact sentiment for U.S. brands; foreign currency risks and foreign exchange controls; our ability to protect the integrity or availability of IT systems or the security of confidential information and other cybersecurity risks; compliance with data privacy and data protection legal requirements and reporting obligations; our ability to successfully and securely implement technology initiatives, including utilization of artificial intelligence; our increasing dependence on digital commerce platforms; the impact of social media; our ability to protect our trademarks or other intellectual property; shortages or interruptions in the availability and the delivery of food, equipment and other supplies; the loss of key personnel or failure to successfully transition senior management, labor shortages and increased labor costs, including as a result of state and local legislation related to wages and working conditions; changes in food prices and other operating costs; our corporate reputation, the value and perception of our brands and changes in consumer preferences such as wellness trends; evolving expectations and requirements with respect to social and environmental sustainability matters; adverse effects of severe weather and climate change; pending or future litigation and legal claims or proceedings; changes in, or noncompliance with, legal requirements; tax matters, including changes in tax rates or laws, impositions of new taxes, tax implications of our restructurings, or disagreements with taxing authorities; changes in consumer discretionary spending and macroeconomic conditions, including inflationary pressures and elevated interest rates; competition within the retail food industry; and risks relating to our level of indebtedness. In addition, other risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial could affect the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements should be evaluated with the understanding of their inherent uncertainty. The forward-looking statements included in this announcement are only made as of the date of this announcement and we disclaim any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

You should consult our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including the information set forth under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Statements” in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q) for additional detail about factors that could affect our financial and other results.

Yum! Brands, Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky, and its subsidiaries franchise or operate a system of over 62,000 restaurants in more than 155 countries and territories under the company’s concepts – KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Habit Burger & Grill. The Company's KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut brands are global leaders of the chicken, Mexican-inspired food and pizza categories, respectively. Habit Burger & Grill is a fast casual restaurant concept specializing in made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches and more. In 2024, Yum! was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America and 3BL’s list of 100 Best Corporate Citizens. In 2025, the Company was recognized among TIME magazine’s list of Best Companies for Future Leaders. In addition, KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut led Entrepreneur's Top Global Franchises 2024 list and were ranked in the first 25 of Entrepreneur’s 2025 Franchise 500, with Taco Bell securing the No. 1 spot in North America for the fifth consecutive year.

Category: Earnings

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