Yum China Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results

Revenue Increased by 13%; Operating Profit Up 14%; Diluted EPS Grew 21%
Same-Store Sales Growth Improved Sequentially to 1%; OP Margin Expanded Year Over Year for the 9^th Consecutive Quarter
Acquisition of the Pizza Hut Brand in Mainland China Expected to Close in August 2026
On Track to Return $1.5 Billion to Shareholders in 2026, ~10% of Current Market Capitalization

SHANGHAI, July 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Yum China Holdings, Inc. (the "Company" or "Yum China") (NYSE: YUMC and HKEX: 9987) today reported unaudited results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026.

Second Quarter Highlights

• Total system sales grew 6% year over year ("YoY"), excluding foreign currency translation ("F/X").
• Same-store sales grew 1% YoY. Same-store transactions grew 5% YoY, the 14^th consecutive quarter of growth.
• Total revenues increased 13% YoY to $3.1 billion, or a 6% increase excluding F/X.
• Opened 560 net new stores, a second-quarter record high and 67% higher than the openings in the same quarter last year, with 41% opened by franchisees. As of June 30, 2026, total store count reached 19,297, with 18% of stores operated by franchisees.
• Operating profit grew 14% YoY to $348 million, a second-quarter record high. Core operating profit grew 7% YoY.
• OP margin was 11.1%, an increase of 20 basis points YoY, the ninth consecutive quarter of OP margin expansion.
• Restaurant margin was 16.1%, flat YoY, primarily due to increased rider cost from a higher delivery mix, offset by streamlined operations.
• Diluted EPS increased 21% YoY to $0.70, or up 14% excluding F/X, and up 10% further excluding the impact⁽¹⁾ of the mark-to-market equity investments.
• Returned $402 million to shareholders through $301 million in share repurchases and $101 million in cash dividends.
• Delivery sales grew 26% YoY. Delivery contributed approximately 54% of total Company sales, up from 45% in the same quarter last year.
• Active Members of KFC or Pizza Hut, defined as those who transacted in the past 12 months, exceeded 270 million, representing a 6% YoY increase.

CEO Comments 

Joey Wat, CEO of Yum China, commented, "We delivered strong results in the second quarter. For the ninth consecutive quarter, we simultaneously grew system sales, operating profit and OP margin. While the operating environment remains dynamic, our topline growth continued to outperform the industry in Q2. Same-store sales growth improved sequentially to 1%, led by the 14^th consecutive quarter of same-store transaction growth, while store openings continued to accelerate year over year across both company-owned and franchise stores. KFC delivered strong results, with 7% system sales growth and restaurant margin expansion. Pizza Hut's same-store sales returned to positive growth and net new openings nearly doubled from last year."

Wat continued, "Our menu innovations and breakthrough side-by-side modules are helping us broaden into new occasions and new customer segments. As we rapidly roll out KCOFFEE cafe, KPRO and car-side pickup services to more KFC locations, Pizza Hut has also built a Pizza Hut Burger Bar to drive incremental sales and profit. At the same time, our KFC Small Town and Pizza Hut WOW models are helping us deepen penetration in lower-tier cities. With our multiple growth drivers, we are confident in our ability to lead the catering industry and deliver on our full-year growth targets, even as we face tougher comparisons in the second half of the year following last year's delivery platform subsidies."

Wat concluded, "We are about to reach a major breakthrough by becoming the owner of the Pizza Hut brand in Mainland China, after operating the brand in the market for 36 years. In the near term, we expect the savings in license fees to support margin expansion, with Pizza Hut's restaurant margin approaching KFC's. More potential new stores are expected to meet our payback requirements of two to three years. Over the longer term, brand ownership will give us greater strategic flexibility to capture new opportunities and innovate more nimbly across our menu, store formats, new business modules and operations. We expect this to accelerate Pizza Hut's growth trajectory and generate sustainable long-term value for our shareholders."

Capital Returns to Shareholders

• The Company is on track to return $1.5 billion each year from 2024 to 2026, which is annually around 10% of our market capitalization as of July 29, 2026.
• In the first half of 2026, the Company returned $718 million in capital to shareholders through $515 million in share repurchases and $203 million in cash dividends.
• The Board declared a cash dividend of $0.29 per share on Yum China's common stock, payable on September 17, 2026, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 27, 2026.
• Starting in 2027, the Company plans to return approximately 100% of annual free cash flow after subsidiaries' dividend payments to non-controlling interests. This is anticipated to translate into an average annual return of approximately $900 million to over $1 billion in 2027 and 2028, and to exceed $1 billion in 2028.

• System sales for KFC grew 7% YoY, improving sequentially from 5% in the first quarter. Same-store sales increased 1% YoY, the fifth consecutive quarter of growth. Same-store transactions grew 4% YoY. Ticket average was 3% lower YoY, mainly due to incremental smaller orders from new customer segments and occasions, including KCOFFEE and KPRO.
• Delivery sales grew 26% YoY, contributing approximately 54% of KFC's Company sales, up from 45% in the same quarter last year.
• KFC opened 335 net new stores during the quarter, including 152 opened by franchisees, representing 45% of net new store openings. Total store count reached 13,789 as of June 30, 2026, with 17% of stores operated by franchisees.
• Operating profit increased 14% YoY to $332 million. Core operating profit increased 7% YoY.
• OP margin was 14.2%, an increase of 20 basis points YoY.
• Restaurant margin was 17.1%, an increase of 20 basis points YoY, primarily due to streamlined operations and favorable commodity prices, partially offset by the impact of increased rider cost resulting from higher delivery mix and value-for-money offerings.

• System sales for Pizza Hut grew 6% YoY, improving sequentially from 4% in the first quarter. Same-store sales growth returned to positive at 1%. Same-store transactions grew 13% YoY, marking the 14^th consecutive quarter of growth, and more than offset the 11% decline in ticket average. In line with our mass-market strategy, ticket average moved closer to our target range, primarily driven by value-for-money offerings and incremental smaller orders such as those from solo diners.
• Delivery sales grew 26% YoY, contributing approximately 52% of Pizza Hut's Company sales, up from 43% in the same quarter last year.
• Pizza Hut opened 174 net new stores during the quarter, nearly double the net openings in the same quarter last year, including 70 opened by franchisees, representing 40% of net new store openings. Total store count reached 4,549 as of June 30, 2026, with 11% of stores operated by franchisees.
• Operating profit grew 11% YoY to $51 million. Core operating profit increased 5% YoY.
• OP margin was 8.3%, flat YoY. OP margin expanded by 60 bps YoY in the first half of the year.
• Restaurant margin was 12.9%, a decrease of 40 basis points YoY, primarily due to the impact of increased costs associated with higher delivery sales mix, value-for-money offerings and investment in Pizza Hut Burger Bar, partially offset by streamlined operations, automation and favorable commodity prices. Restaurant margin increased by 10 basis points YoY in the first half of the year.

2026 Outlook

The Company targets:

• Total stores of over 20,000, or more than 1,900 net new stores.
• 40-50% franchise mix of net new stores for both KFC and Pizza Hut.
• Capital expenditures of approximately $600 million to $700 million.
• $1.5 billion capital return to shareholders.

Other Update

• The Company is on track to close the acquisition of the Pizza Hut brand in Mainland China in August and plans to secure an approximately $1.2 billion equivalent offshore bridge loan to finance the transaction.

Note on Non-GAAP Measures

Reported GAAP results include items that are excluded from non-GAAP measures. See "Reconciliation of Reported GAAP Results to Non-GAAP Measures" and "Segment Results" within this release for non-GAAP reconciliation details.

Conference Call

Yum China's management will hold an earnings conference call at 7:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time on Thursday, July 30, 2026 (7:00 p.m. Beijing/Hong Kong Time on Thursday, July 30, 2026).

A live webcast of the call may be accessed at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/zubr6dix.

To join by phone, please register in advance through the link provided below. Upon registering, you will be provided with participant dial-in numbers and a unique access PIN.

Pre-registration Link: https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BI611346d62d61456ca32d90b61aca7523

A replay of the webcast will be available two hours after the event and will remain accessible until July 29, 2027. Earnings release and accompanying slides will be available at the Company's Investor Relations website http://ir.yumchina.com.

For important news and information regarding Yum China, including our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, visit Yum China's Investor Relations website at http://ir.yumchina.com. Yum China uses this website as a primary channel for disclosing key information to its investors, some of which may contain material and previously non-public information.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements under the section titled "2026 Outlook." We intend all forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and by the use of forward-looking words such as "expect," "expectation," "believe," "anticipate," "may," "could," "intend," "belief," "plan," "estimate," "target," "predict," "project," "likely," "will," "continue," "should," "forecast," "outlook," "commit" or similar terminology. These statements are based on current estimates and assumptions made by us in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that we believe are appropriate and reasonable under the circumstances, but there can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the future strategies, growth, business plans, investments, store openings, net new stores, franchise mix of net new stores, capital expenditures, capital returns, dividend and share repurchase plans, CAGR for system sales, operating profit and EPS, earnings, performance and returns, anticipated effects of population and macroeconomic trends, execution of the Company's RGM 3.0 strategy, the anticipated effects of our innovation, digital and delivery capabilities and investments on growth and beliefs regarding the long-term drivers of Yum China's business. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance and are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and could cause our actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by those statements. We cannot assure you that any of our expectations, estimates or assumptions will be achieved. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are only made as of the date of this press release, and we disclaim any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law. Numerous factors could cause our actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: whether we are able to achieve development goals at the times and in the amounts currently anticipated, if at all, the success of our marketing campaigns and product innovation, our ability to maintain food safety and quality control systems, changes in public health conditions, our ability to control costs and expenses, including tax costs, as well as changes in political, economic, trade relations, regulatory conditions in China and the U.S., and those set forth under the caption "Risk Factors" in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Our plan of capital returns to shareholders is based on current expectations, which may change based on market conditions, capital needs or otherwise. In addition, other risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial could affect the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements should be evaluated with the understanding of their inherent uncertainty. You should consult our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including the information set forth under the caption "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q) for additional detail about factors that could affect our financial and other results.

About Yum China Holdings, Inc.

Yum China is the largest restaurant company in China with a mission to make every life taste beautiful. The Company operates over 19,000 restaurants under six brands across over 2,700 cities in China. KFC and Pizza Hut are the leading brands in the quick-service and casual dining restaurant spaces in China, respectively. In addition, Yum China has partnered with Lavazza to develop the Lavazza coffee concept in China. Little Sheep and Huang Ji Huang specialize in Chinese cuisine. Taco Bell offers innovative Mexican-inspired food. Yum China has a world-class, digitalized supply chain, which includes an extensive network of logistics centers nationwide and an in-house supply chain management system. Its strong digital capabilities and loyalty program enable the Company to reach customers faster and serve them better. Yum China is a Fortune 500 company with the vision to be the world's most innovative pioneer in the restaurant industry. For more information, please visit http://ir.yumchina.com.

Contacts

In this press release:

• Certain performance metrics and non-GAAP measures are presented excluding the impact of foreign currency translation ("F/X"). These amounts are derived by translating current year results at prior year average exchange rates. We believe the elimination of the F/X impact provides better year-to-year comparability without the distortion of foreign currency fluctuations.
• System sales growth reflects the results of all restaurants regardless of ownership, including Company-owned and franchise restaurants that operate our restaurant concepts, except for non-Company-owned restaurants for which we do not receive a sales-based royalty. Sales of franchise restaurants typically generate ongoing franchise fees for the Company at an average rate of approximately 6% of system sales. Franchise restaurant sales are not included in Company sales in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income; however, the franchise fees are included in the Company's revenues. We believe system sales growth is useful to investors as a significant indicator of the overall strength of our business as it incorporates all of our revenue drivers, Company and franchise same-store sales as well as net unit growth.
• Effective January 1, 2018, the Company revised its definition of same-store sales growth to represent the estimated percentage change in sales of food of all restaurants in the Company system that have been open prior to the first day of our prior fiscal year, excluding the period during which stores are temporarily closed. We refer to these as our "base" stores. Previously, same-store sales growth represented the estimated percentage change in sales of all restaurants in the Company system that have been open for one year or more, including stores temporarily closed, and the base stores changed on a rolling basis from month to month. This revision was made to align with how management measures performance internally and focuses on trends of a more stable base of stores.