In a note lauding Yum! Brands’ ( NYSE: YUM ) earnings results earlier in the week, Bernstein analyst Danilo Gargiulo said the fast-food operator is fast approaching “the status of GOAT among QSR brands.”
Gargiulio highlighted strong same store sales growth across brands and global resilience, even in light of China weakness, as deserving of a LeBron James comparison. He added that unit growth and international expansion still appears robust despite headwinds in China and Russia.
“We believe that YUM's secret sauce was to combine its strong structural capabilities with a well-crafted marketing positioning that capitalized on the Barbell effect, that sees low-income consumers chasing value and high-income consumers craving for more premium options,” Gargiulo concluded. “The underlying strength in unit development across brands, superior international ex-China performance and modest promotional activity that was in-line with market trends gives us continued confidence in YUM's resilience.”
He reiterated his Outperform rating and assigned a $144 price target to the stock. Shares of Yum! Brands ( YUM ) rose about 1% on Thursday, adding to a sharp gain on Wednesday.
Read more on the details of Wednesday’s earnings report .
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Bernstein sees Yum! Brands as LeBron James of QSR space