EarningsQ2 2026 Earnings Report
MX:YUM Q2 2026 EPS Results
Actual EPS$29.10
Consensus EPS$28.20
Beat/MissBeat by +$0.90
One Year Ago EPS$25.87
MX:YUM Q2 2026 Revenue Results
Actual Revenue$38.96B
Expected Revenue$39.17B
Beat/MissMissed by -$207.61M
YoY Revenue Growth+12.21%
Earnings Announcement Details
QuarterQ2 2026
Date07/30/2026
TimeBefore Open
Conference CallThursday, July 30, 2026
MX:YUM Upcoming Earnings
Yum! Brands's next earnings date is estimated for November 3, 2026, based on past reporting schedules.
Q2 2026 Earnings Call Audio
MX:YUM Q2 2026 Earnings Call
0:00 / 0:00
Q2 2026 Earnings Slide Deck
No slide deck is available for this earnings event.
Q2 2026 Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Sentiment|Positive
The call conveyed a largely positive outlook driven by robust unit development, digital acceleration, KFC momentum, Taco Bell loyalty and strong H1 financial performance (7% system sales growth ex. Pizza Hut; digital sales +25% YoY). The principal near-term weakness is a meaningful but described-as-temporary U.S. Taco Bell sales disruption tied to an industry food-safety issue that has pressured short-term margins and caused QTD comp declines (‑2% through July 27 and sharper day-level drops at the peak). Management emphasized recovery actions, strong brand fundamentals and capital deployment plans (including a $2.7B Pizza Hut sale and $670M of buybacks YTD), leaving the tone optimistic about long-term growth while acknowledging short-term headwinds.Company Guidance
Strong consolidated top-line performance (ex. Pizza Hut)
Excluding Pizza Hut, Q2 system sales grew 7%, driven by 6% unit growth and 4% same-store sales growth. First half results capped a solid H1 with continued development and comps strength across brands.
Rapid digital acceleration and Byte/AI adoption
Digital sales (ex. Pizza Hut) exceeded $17 billion in H1, up 25% year-over-year; Q2 digital sales approached $9 billion with digital mix of 61% (ex. Pizza Hut). Q2 digital mix by brand: KFC 67% (up 5pp), Taco Bell 47% (up 5pp), Habit 55% (up 9pp). Byte platform and AI scale: Voice AI deployed to >900 Taco Bell restaurants, >400 internal AI agents built, and Byte positioned to power the majority of system sales outside China over time.
KFC momentum and record development
KFC (58% of divisional operating profit ex. Pizza Hut) delivered 6% system sales growth, 7% unit growth and 2% same-store sales growth in Q2. Notable market wins: U.K. +8% SSS in Q2 (Pickle Mania driving the highest sales week in that market), Asia +6% SSS, Japan accelerated by 8 points from Q1, Korea recorded its sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit SSS growth. KFC opened 660 gross new stores across 55 markets in Q2; Middle East reached 1,500 KFC restaurants; management expects its best development year ever and highlights a ~20,000 unit global opportunity in underpenetrated markets.
Taco Bell Q2 performance and loyalty strength
Taco Bell (43% of divisional operating profit ex. Pizza Hut) delivered 7% same-store sales growth in Q2 and a digital mix of 47% (up 5pp YoY). Taco Bell U.S. restaurant-level margins were 26.2% (up 170 bps YoY, including a 60 bp benefit from acquired stores). Loyalty and promotion execution drove record engagement (two highest-performing 'Tuesday drop' promotions in brand history) and strong app acquisition and transactions.
Unit growth across the system
Yum! opened 720 stores in the quarter (ex. Pizza Hut). KFC accounted for 660 of those new stores, with broad contribution from China, India, Korea, Japan and Turkey.
Strategic capital allocation and balance sheet actions
Yum! repurchased approximately $670 million of shares in H1 (funded by free cash flow and revolver). Management expects ~$2.3 billion of net proceeds from Pizza Hut transactions to pay down revolver and the remainder to be used for share repurchases, subject to market conditions.
Pizza Hut strategic transactions
Completed strategic review; entered into agreements to sell Pizza Hut ex-China to LongRange Capital and Pizza Hut China to Yum China for $2.7 billion aggregate, with a potential additional $75 million earnout — transactions expected to close in August and positioned to focus Yum! on its three core brands.
Operating profit and cost discipline
Second quarter core operating profit grew 8% despite a 3 percentage point drag from refranchising phasing and Habit store closure costs. Yum! ex special G&A was $223 million, up 2% year-over-year, with management reiterating disciplined G&A targets (1.7% of system sales pro forma).
Corporate sustainability and community impact
Yum!, its brands and franchisees reached 6.5 million people and provided the equivalent of nearly 47 million meals through donations in 2025, highlighted in the annual Global Citizenship & Sustainability Report.
MX:YUM Earnings History
The table shows recent earnings report dates and whether the forecast was beat or missed. See the change in forecast and EPS from the previous year.
Beat
Missed