Operations

Yum Brands reports Q4, year-end results; Pizza Hut to close 250 units

Photo: Mahmoud Suhail - stock.adobe.com

February 5, 2026

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Yum Brands, Inc. released its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended Dec. 31, 2025, highlighting significant profit growth and a record-breaking year for development at its KFC and Taco Bell divisions.

The company reported a robust finish to the fiscal year, driven by double-digit profit growth in the final quarter:

Quarterly Growth: Fourth-quarter GAAP operating profit grew 12%, while Core Operating Profit (excluding the lap of the 53rd week) grew 11%.
Earnings Per Share: Fourth-quarter GAAP EPS was $1.91. For the full year, EPS excluding Special Items reached $6.05, marking a 10% increase over 2024.
Annual Results: Full-year GAAP operating profit grew 7%.

"Yum delivered another year of outstanding results at KFC and Taco Bell with our fundamentals stronger than ever at both brands," Chris Turner, CEO, said in a company press release. "Taco Bell again gained market share with standout same-store sales performance, and KFC delivered another record-breaking year of unit development. We enter 2026 with a clear strategic focus on accelerating long-term growth, embodied in our multi-year 'Raise the Bar' priorities."

KFC opened 1,132 gross new restaurants during the quarter and 2,986 gross new restaurants across 105 countries for the year. Taco Bell opened 228 gross new restaurants during the quarter and 376 gross new restaurants across 27 countries for the year. Taco Bell U.S. system sales grew 2%.

"In the fourth quarter, Yum! demonstrated its unique ability to achieve strong performance while navigating a complex environment," Ranjith Roy, CFO, added in the press release. "We sustained strong topline results, delivered double-digit profit growth, completed a sizeable Taco Bell store acquisition and commenced a review of strategic options for the Pizza Hut brand."

In an earnings call yesterday, the company said it will shutter 250 underperforming Pizza Hut locations in the U.S. as part of its "Hut Forward" strategy. The closures comes as Pizza Hut's store sales in the U.S. declined by 3% in the fourth quarter of 2025.

"The 250 stores that we mentioned is a very small portion of the 20,000-unit estate that Pizza Hut has globally," Roy said during the earnings call. "And it is the right answer for the brand as we move through the strategic review."

Pizza Hut did open 443 new restaurants during the quarter and 1,184 gross new restaurants across 65 countries for the year.

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: