These two can handle future lockdowns

Article Excerpt

Concerns that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 will lead to new lockdowns have hurt the stock prices of these two fast-food companies. However, their customers continue to embrace online ordering and home delivery, which should spur their long-term earnings. YUM! BRANDS INC. $133 is a buy. The company (New York symbol YUM; Consumer Sector; Shares outstanding: 293.1 million; Market cap: $39.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.3; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.yum.com) operates 52,151 restaurants in over 150 countries. Its main banners are KFC (fried chicken), Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (Mexican food). Franchisees now operate 98% of its outlets. Yum opened a record 760 new outlets (net of closures) in the latest quarter. As a result, sales in that third quarter of 2021 rose 10.9%, to $1.61 billion from $1.45 billion a year earlier. On a same-store basis, sales gained 5%. The company owns 5% of Devyani International, which operates franchised KFC and Pizza Hut outlets in India. Devyani recently sold shares to the public…