On Thursday, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC operator Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) reported second-quarter earnings per share of $0.61, down 11.7% from the same year-ago period. Excluding special items, earnings per share dropped to $0.56 from $0.67 during the second quarter of 2012.
Meanwhile, revenue fell 8.5% over the same period, to $2.9 billion, hurt primarily by a 20% fall in quarterly same-store sales from the company’s China Division, which itself drove China system sales down 12%.
Image source: Yum (NYSE:YUM)! Brands
Now that all sounds scary enough, so why did Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) stock only fall 1.1% when all was said and done Thursday?
When less-bad is great
Remember, Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)’s troubles in China began late last year when the Chinese government identified a local company, which had supplied tainted chicken to both Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) and McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) restaurants in the region.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) Asia/Pacific sales also suffered a 9.5% decline in January as a result, but with less than 2,000 McDonald’s restaurants in China compared to Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)’s more than 6,000 locations, Mickey D’s exposure to the fallout was much less extreme. Even so, while the bad poultry wasn’t exactly Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)’s fault, the company still apologized, and quickly cut ties with the supplier in question. In addition, both Yum! and McDonald’s promised process improvements in the region to prevent such quality lapses from recurring.
Then, just as Chinese consumer sentiment toward both companies had begun to improve, significant negative media coverage surrounding Avian flu in the country once again devastated Yum!’s China sales, setting off the following chain of year-over-year same-store sales decreases since then:
- March: China same-store sales drop 13%
- April: China same-store sales plummet 29%
- May: China same-store sales plunge 19%
- June (released Wednesday): China same-store sales fall 10%
What’s more, though Yum! maintained its previous outlook for a “mid-single-digit full-year EPS decline” from last year’s overall results, it also stated China Division same-store sales are expected to continue to recover over the course of the year, finally posting positive comps in the fourth quarter.
Finally, when you add to that Yum! Brand’s recently outlined plans to double domestic Taco Bell sales to around $14 billion over the next eight years, part of which includes a nationwide rollout of breakfast offerings at the chain by the end of 2014, YUM stock is starting to look more appealing by the day.
The article Buy Yum! Brands Stock Before This Happens originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Steve Symington has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends McDonald’s. The Motley Fool owns shares of McDonald’s.
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