We maintain our Buy rating on YUM and note the following:
Earlier today, Dine Brands (DIN; Neutral) — the owner of the IHOP family-dining concept and the Applebee’s casual-dining concept — reported adjusted Q2 EPS of $1.71. While this came in slightly ahead of our recently-lowered $1.70 forecast, it fell short of the $1.81 sell-side consensus.
Yesterday, we published a report highlighting the 20 fastest-growing restaurant brands in the U.S. (of those 175 restaurant brands that generated at least $200 million in U.S. systemwide sales during 2018). It would be wonderful if all restaurant brands did was grow, but alas, that is not the case. The restaurant industry is incredibly dynamic — it remains “The Endless Shakeout,” to use the memorable phrase coined in the 1970s by then-Salomon Brothers restaurant-industry analyst Robert L. Emerson.