The pandemic made them stronger

Article Excerpt

COVID-19 lockdowns slowed the progress of Yum Brands and its spinoff Yum China. (The two split in November 2016.) Even so, Yum is still up an impressive 76% since the spinoff, while Yum China has gained a strong 69%. We still like the long-term outlook for both stocks even as new lockdowns in China hurt Yum China’s current sales and earnings. The truth is pandemic lockdowns encouraged both companies to accelerate the adoption of digital ordering and delivery services. That will help them cope with future disruptions. The ability to better analyze customer data will also spur their customer traffic and food orders. YUM! BRANDS INC. $109 is a buy. The company (New York symbol YUM; Consumer Sector; Shares outstanding: 285.2 million; Market cap: $31.1 billion; Dividend yield: 1.4%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.yum.com) operates over 54,000 restaurants in more than 150 countries—65% of those outlets are outside of the U.S. Its main banners are KFC (fried chicken), Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (Mexican food). Yum’s sales declined…