We maintain our Buy rating on YUM and note the following:
Earlier today, Yum Brands (YUM; Buy) reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $0.93, topping our $0.89 forecast and sell-side consensus of $0.87. Yum’s updating of its fair value of its investment in Grubhub (GRUB; Not Rated) added $0.06 to Q2 EPS, but we’d also note that the Q2 adjusted tax rate of 23.7% hampered EPS by $0.03 according to our math relative to our 20.6% projection (and consensus of 20.6%). Second-quarter restaurant-level margins for company-owned stores matched our forecast.
Ahead of Yum Brands’ (YUM; Buy) second-quarter earnings release scheduled for before the market open on Thursday, August 1st, we raise our Q2 EPS estimate by $0.01 to $0.89, placing us two cents above sell-side consensus according to Consensus Metrix. Our EPS estimate increase is driven by (1) an update to our Q2E Taco Bell same-store sales projection to +5% (which places us as tied for the high on the sell-side in this respect), from our prior +4%, and versus consensus of +3.7% (please keep in mind that Yum Brands does not report its same-store sales out past the decimal point), and (2) taking up our worldwide Q2E KFC same-store sales estimate to +4% (from +3%).