Yum! Brands stock slides as comparable sales miss the mark in Q1

Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) saw its share fall 6% in the market pre-open on Wednesday after the company’s first-quarter top and bottom line, and same-store sales all missed analyst expectations.

The owner of KFC and Taco Bell reported Q1 earnings per share (EPS) of $1.15, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21.

Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.6 billion, falling short of the projected $1.71 billion.

Worldwide comparable sales decreased by 3%, notably underperforming against expectations of a 0.99% growth.

Also, operating profit for the quarter was $520 million, a slight decrease of 0.6% year-over-year, and lower than the anticipated $566.2 million.

“Despite a difficult operating environment, we delivered 6% Core Operating Profit growth demonstrating the resilience of our business model,” said David Gibbs, CEO of Yum! Brands.

“As expected, same-store sales were pressured this quarter, but we are encouraged by strong 2-year same-store sales growth and positive momentum exiting the quarter. First-quarter unit growth was robust with over 800 new unit openings, leading to 6% unit growth and positioning us to surpass 60,000 restaurants this year.”

By Vahid Karaahmetovic

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