Yum China Holdings, Inc. (YUMC)

Key figures

The last twelve months reported, with the latest price and balance sheet.

Revenue, last twelve months

$12.4B

Revenue growth

8.8%

Net income, last twelve months

$975.0M

Earnings per share

$2.73

Operating margin

11.1%

Net margin

7.8%

Free cash flow

$940.0M

Return on equity

18.2%

Market value

$15.4B

Price to earnings

16.3x

Dividend yield

2.4%

Cash

$485.0M

Debt

$66.0M

Debt to equity

0.01

Shares outstanding

345.0M

Financial statements

Revenue, profit and cash flow by fiscal year, each year linked to its annual report.

By quarter

What the company said with its results

From the second quarter of 2026 results, filed 30 July 2026.

• Revenue and operating profit both rose. Total revenues rose 13% to $3.1 billion, or 6% excluding F/X. Operating profit rose 14% to $348 million, a second-quarter record. Core operating profit rose 7%.
• OP margin up for ninth quarter. OP margin reached 11.1% in the quarter and 12.4% for the first half, each up 20 basis points, the ninth straight quarter of expansion.
• Diluted EPS rose 21 percent. Diluted EPS was $0.70, up 21%, or 14% excluding F/X and 10% further excluding mark-to-market effects on equity investments. First-half diluted EPS was $1.57, up 16%.
• Same-store sales reached 1%. Same-store sales grew 1%, improved from flat in the first quarter. Same-store transactions rose 5%, the 14th consecutive quarter of transaction growth.
• KFC system sales rose 7%. KFC system sales grew 7%, up from 5% in the first quarter. Same-store sales rose 1%, the fifth consecutive quarter of growth, with same-store transactions up 4%.
• KFC operating profit up 14%. KFC operating profit rose 14% to $332 million, and its OP margin was 14.2%, up 20 basis points. Core operating profit rose 7% to $313 million.
• KFC restaurant margin edged up. KFC restaurant margin was 17.1%, up 20 basis points. First-half restaurant margin was 18.1%, down 30 basis points year over year.
• Pizza Hut system sales rose 6%. Pizza Hut system sales grew 6%, up from 4% in the first quarter. Same-store sales returned to positive growth at 1%, after the first quarter's flat level.
• Transactions up, ticket down 11%. Same-store transactions rose 13%, the 14th consecutive quarter of growth, more than offsetting an 11% decline in ticket average from value offerings and smaller orders.
• Pizza Hut restaurant margin fell. Pizza Hut restaurant margin was 12.9%, down 40 basis points. First-half restaurant margin rose 10 basis points to 14.0%.
• Pizza Hut operating profit up 11%. Pizza Hut operating profit rose 11% to $51 million, and core operating profit rose 5%. OP margin was flat at 8.3%, and first-half OP margin rose 60 basis points.
• Delivery share of sales rose. Delivery sales rose 26%. KFC's delivery share was about 54% and Pizza Hut's about 52%, compared with 45% and 43% a year earlier.
• New occasions and store formats. KCOFFEE cafe, KPRO and car-side pickup are rolling out to more KFC locations. Pizza Hut built a Burger Bar, and KFC Small Town and Pizza Hut WOW target lower-tier cities.
• Active members passed 270 million. Active members of KFC or Pizza Hut, meaning those who transacted in the past 12 months, exceeded 270 million, up 6%.

Revenue by segment

As the company reports it in the segment note of its annual report.

By product, FY2025

Company events

The newest 8-K filings of 112 held.

Every filing

The newest filings with the SEC of 237 held.

Insider trades

Form 4 trades by officers, directors and 10% owners, last 12 months.

Planned insider sales

Form 144 notices, filed when the sell order goes to the broker.

Large holders

Schedule 13D and 13G filings by holders of more than 5% of the voting shares.

Trades by members of the House

From each member's periodic transaction report.

Short interest

Shares sold short and not yet bought back, on each FINRA settlement date.

Funds that hold it

From each fund's latest Form 13F.

768 funds held it at 30 Jun 2026: 223 added and 234 trimmed in the quarter. The largest:

Peers

Companies in the same industry.

• McDonald's Corp. (MCD): revenue $27.7B, market value $177.4B
• Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM): revenue $8.7B, market value $41.0B
• Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG): revenue $12.4B, market value $36.4B
• Restaurant Brands International Inc. (QSR): revenue $9.7B, market value $26.0B
• Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI): revenue $13.4B, market value $24.5B
• Aramark (ARMK): revenue $19.8B, market value $14.6B
• Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (TXRH): revenue $6.2B, market value $11.5B
• Brinker International, Inc. (EAT): revenue $5.9B, market value $9.2B
• Cava Group, Inc. (CAVA): revenue $1.4B, market value $6.3B
• Cheesecake Factory Inc. (CAKE): revenue $3.9B, market value $5.3B

What the company does

Yum China Holdings, Inc. runs restaurants in China. It had 18,101 restaurants as of 31 December 2025, covering over 2,500 cities primarily in China. The company says it is the largest restaurant company in China by 2025 system sales. Its main brands are KFC and Pizza Hut, and it also operates Lavazza, Huang Ji Huang, Little Sheep and Taco Bell. It had approximately 290,000 employees at year end.

How the business is organised

The company has two reportable segments, KFC and Pizza Hut. Lavazza, Huang Ji Huang, Little Sheep, Taco Bell and the delivery operating segment are combined as All Other Segments. Yum China is a Delaware holding company that conducts substantially all of its operations in China through subsidiaries. As of 31 December 2025 it owned and operated approximately 83% of its restaurants, and franchisees ran the rest.

What it sells

KFC is a quick-service restaurant brand with 12,997 restaurants in over 2,500 cities. KFC opened its first restaurant in Beijing in 1987. Its menu includes Original Recipe chicken, burgers, pork, seafood, rice dishes, congees, desserts, coffee and tea. Pizza Hut is a casual dining brand with 4,168 restaurants in over 1,000 cities. It serves pizza, pasta, steaks, rice dishes and other dishes from breakfast through dinner, and also sells packaged foods for eating at home.

- Lavazza: 146 coffee shops in mainland China and Hong Kong, run through a joint venture with Luigi Lavazza S.p.A. - Huang Ji Huang: a simmer pot brand with 627 units, mainly franchised. - Little Sheep: a hot pot brand with 135 units, mainly franchised. - Taco Bell: 28 units in China.

KFC also runs about 2,200 KCOFFEE Cafes. Across all brands, the company launched around 600 new or upgraded menu items in 2025.

How it earns money

Franchisees pay upfront franchise fees and ongoing royalties based on a percentage of sales. They also pay for food and paper products, advertising, delivery and other services bought from the company. The filing puts the average franchise fee at approximately 6% of system sales.

Digital ordering and delivery

Digital ordering accounted for approximately 94% of total Company sales, and digital payments accounted for 99%. KFC and Pizza Hut loyalty programs together exceeded 590 million members, with over 265 million active in the last 12 months. Member sales made up approximately 61% of KFC and Pizza Hut system sales.

Delivery contributed approximately 48% of Company sales. KFC started its own delivery platform in 2010 and also works with delivery aggregators. The company uses both its own riders and platform riders. Robotic servers are in over 60% of Pizza Hut restaurants.

Supply chain

The company buys food and paper products centrally for most restaurants, whether it owns them or not. It works with over 850 independent suppliers, mostly based in China. Over 1,000 staff work in its supply chain functions. Supplies move through 34 logistics centers that serve Company-owned and franchised stores. The network covers stores in over 2,500 cities and towns. The company also owns seasoning facilities that sell to Huang Ji Huang and Little Sheep franchisees.

Brand licences and competition

Yum China holds an exclusive master license from Yum! Brands, Inc. for KFC, Pizza Hut and, subject to agreed terms, Taco Bell in China, excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The KFC and Pizza Hut term is 50 years from 31 October 2016, with automatic renewals. The company pays a license fee equal to 3% of net system sales of the licensed brands. The Taco Bell agreement set a measurement condition of at least 225 stores by the end of 2025. The company and Yum! Brands, Inc. are renegotiating the terms. Little Sheep and Huang Ji Huang are owned outright.

KFC competes mainly with western quick-service brands such as McDonald's, Dicos and Burger King. Pizza Hut competes mainly with western casual dining brands including Domino's and Papa John's, as well as domestic chains.

Its people

The company had approximately 130,000 full-time employees and approximately 160,000 part-time restaurant crew members. Each restaurant is led by a restaurant general manager. Through the KFC Business School and the Pizza Hut Management Institute, a new college graduate can become one in less than two years. The company also describes a Mega RGM model, in which one manager oversees multiple stores with AI-enabled tools. More than 15,300 restaurant general managers have become stockholders through a restricted stock unit program. The turnover rate of restaurant general managers was 7.8% in 2025. The company opened approximately 80 Angel Restaurants in over 70 cities, which provide jobs for over 300 people with special needs.

*From Yum China's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025. [The filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1673358/000119312526082824/yumc-20251231.htm)*

From the company's 10-K.