Posts for Ticker ‘YUM’

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (AEO, BNI, ENR, GET, GES, GD, STEC, VIA, YUM)

These are this Wednesday’s top ten analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls:

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) Raised to Top Picks at FBR Capital; but shares were also Cut to Hold at Lazard.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Energizer Holdings (NYSE: ENR) Cut to Neutral from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Gaylord Entertainment (NYSE: GET) Raised to Market Perform at both FBR and at Wells Fargo.
Guess? Inc. (NYSE: GES) Cut to Hold at Lazard.
General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
STEC, Inc. (NASDAQ: STEC) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer; Cut to Source of Funds at ThinkEquity.
Viacom (NYSE: VIA) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) Started as Buy at Janney Montgomery.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: November 4, 2009 – 8:09 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (BIIB, INCY, MOT, CMCSA, JWN, ODP, PALM, RIMM, RCL, YUM)

These are this Monday’s top ten analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research firms:

Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ: INCY) Started as Outperform at Leerink Swann.
Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Cut to Hold at Kaufman Bros.
Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Research-in-Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
YUM! Brands (NYSE: YUM) Raised to Outperform at RBC Capital.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: November 2, 2009 – 9:25 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Yum! Bottom Line Overcomes Other Issues (YUM)

Yum LogoYum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) is out with earnings that look outstanding. The owner of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut posted $0.70 EPS and $2.78 billion in revenues.  Thomson Reuters had estimates pegged at $0.58 EPS on $2.79 billion in revenues.  Yum! also has raised its full 2009 EPS guidance from $2.10 to $2.14 per share to reflect 12% growth before special items.  The company maintains that this is on performance in China and a lower-than-expected full year effective tax rate.  The good news is the bottom-line, but there are still some metrics that might not be viewed too favorably right on the surface.
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Posted on: October 6, 2009 – 4:22 pm in Earnings, Food, Retail,

The Unusual Suspects (AA, MOS, YUM, CVC, CIT, LOCM, RVSN, WFC)

bull-and-bear-image2It is the weekend and that means a review of last week’s unusual suspects and a review for key stocks in the week ahead.  Technically earnings season gets its first earnings report from a DJIA component in ACLOA Inc. (NYSE: AA) this week, as well as earnings from The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) and from Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM).  Other key stocks to watch will be Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC), CIT Group, Inc. (NYSE: CIT) on the ropes, the real or unreal takeover chances for Local.com Corp. (NASDAQ: LOCM), and the unusual trading in Radvision Ltd. (NASDAQ: RVSN) and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC).  We have provided more detailed information and analysis on each story below.
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Posted on: October 4, 2009 – 10:34 am in Agriculture, Banking, Buffett, Cable Companies, Calendar, Commodities, Dividend, Earnings, Editor's Picks, Food, Internet, Mergers and Buy Outs, Options, Private Equity, Rumors, The Week, Trading Alert, , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades (AMGN, CELL, ELON, SATS, KR, QLGC, MBI, PETM, S, YUM)

These are the top  10 pre-market analyst upgrades and downgrades in Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning:

Amgen (AMGN) Started as Buy at RBC.
Brightpoint (CELL) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Echelon (ELON) Raised to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Echostar Holdings (SATS) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Kroger (KR) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
QLogic (QLGC) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
MBIA Inc. (MBI) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
PETsMART (PETM) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Sprint Nextel (S) Cut to Underweight at Piper Jaffray.
YUM! Brands (YUM) Cut to Neutral at UBS.

JON C. OGG
AUGUST 11, 2009

Posted on: August 11, 2009 – 7:58 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Yum!’s Domestic Numbers Head South (YUM)

Yum LogoYum! Brands Inc. (YUM) has reported earnings.  The owner of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut posted $0.63  EPS after a gain and $0.50 EPS outside of items and $2.48 billion in revenue.  Thomson Reuters had estimates pegged at $0.43 EPS and $2.5 billion in revenue.
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Posted on: July 14, 2009 – 3:35 pm in Earnings, Food, Retail,

Food Investor Alert: Fat & Calorie Displays At Food Chains (MCD, YUM, BWLD, CAKE, PFCB, RRGB, EAT, BKC, WEN, TXRH, SONC, CPKI)

If you like to invest in food chain restaurants, Thursday was a bad day as a group of bipartisan senators are trying to require chains to list calories on their menus.  This is aimed at the big restaurant chains with 20 locations of the same name rather than mom and pop stores.  If you can believe it, fast food and casual dining restaurant owners McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) and Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) already have this available online.  Some of the big chains out there make this available and some do not.

Imagine if (or when) you are forced to see the calorie, salt, and fat counts for many of your favorite foods such as Buffalo Wings at Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD). Or what about some of those oversized plates big enough for two or three meals at The Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ: CAKE)?  And what if you tally up the full calories and sodium in Chinese food at PF Chang’s China Bistro Inc. (NASDAQ: PFCB)?  Or a Monster Burger at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (NASDAQ: RRGB).  Or what about Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT) chains like Chili’s for the Texas Cheese Fries?

We do not mean to pick on any single chain by naming menu items or chains, because this  could affect all big chain owners to the likes of Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC), Wendy’s/Arby’s Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEN), Texas Roadhouse Inc. (NASDAQ: TXRH), Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC), California Pizza Kitchen Inc., (NASDAQ: CPKI), and many more.  The news of this had a significant negative impact on most of these stocks today when you consider we had an up market.
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Posted on: June 11, 2009 – 4:33 pm in Consumer Goods, Food, Law, Politics, Regulation, Retail, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Downgrades & Cautious Calls (ATHN, ETFC, LM, MICC, TKC, AMTD, YUM)

These are the top pre-market analyst downgrades or cautious notes we have seen early this Thursday morning from Wall Street brokerage firms with more than two hours until the market opens:

Athenahealth (ATHN) Started as Neutral at Baird.
E*TRADE (ETFC) Started as Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Legg Mason (LM) Started as Sell at Deutsche Bank.
Millicom (MICC) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Turkcell (TKC) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
TD Ameritrade (AMTD) Started as Hold at Deutsche Bank.
YUM! Brands (YUM) Started as Hold at Jefferies.

Jon C. Ogg

Posted on: June 4, 2009 – 6:12 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , ,

Yum Chairman/CEO Novak Pockets $30M More In Stock Options (YUM)

money-stack-image55If you think that high compensation and getting rich on stock options was only in technology companies or on Wall Street, that is not the case.  David Novak, Chairman & CEO of Yum Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) has just pocketed about $30 million before taxes via the exercise of stock options.

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Posted on: April 29, 2009 – 12:29 pm in Food, Insider Activity, Options, Retail,

Top 10 Analyst Calls (CMG, FTO, GS, NTAP, OSG, SBUX, SYY, TK, WRI, YUM)

These are the top 10 analyst calls we have seen early this Wednesday morning from Wall Street:

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) Raised to Outperform at William Blair.
Frontier Oil (FTO) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Goldman Sachs (GS) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Network Appliance (NTAP) Raised to Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
Overseas Shuipholding (OSG) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Starbucks (SBUX) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.
Sysco (SYY) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Teekay (TK) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Weingarten Realty (WRI) Raised to Market Perform at Wachovia.
YUM Brands (YUM) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
JON C. OGG

Posted on: April 15, 2009 – 6:58 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 2/4/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

According to Reuters, Motorola (MOT) is betting much of its future on the Google (GOOG) Android phone system.

Reuters reports that car sales hit a 27-year low.

Reuters reports that Obama plans to set executive pay at companies getting TARP funds at $500,000.

Reuters reports that Panasonic lost $4.2 billion and will cut 15,000 jobs.

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Posted on: February 4, 2009 – 4:08 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , ,

Yum! Earnings: Part Yum, Part Yuck (YUM)

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) posted earnings of $0.46 EPS on revenue of $3.38 billion. Analysts had expected results of $0.45 EPS on $3.38 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters (First Call). Yum! earnings were not as clean as they have been, but the guidance is far from a disaster.

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Posted on: February 3, 2009 – 4:44 pm in Earnings, Food, Retail,

Yum! Earnings on Deck: Next McDonald’s, or Troubled Growth? (YUM, MCD)

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) is set to report earnings after the close of trading today. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect earnings of $0.45 EPS on $3.38 billion in revenue.  We have noted before how Yum! may have an ultimate aim of surpassing McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) as the largest fast food chain globally.

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Posted on: February 3, 2009 – 1:15 pm in Earnings, Food, Retail, ,

Early Analyst Calls (AF)(AXYS)(FEED)(YUM)

Deutsche_bank_logoAstoria (AF) remains "underperform" at FBR.

Axsys (AXYS) upped to "buy" at Morgan Joseph.

Yum! (YUM) upgraded to "buy" at Argus.

AgFeed (FEED) downgraded to "neutral" at Global Hunter.

Sources: Briefing.com and wire services.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: December 30, 2008 – 8:01 am in Analyst Calls, , , ,

The 24/7 Wall St. CEO Of The Year: James A. Skinner Of McDonald’s (MCD)

TodayRonaldmcdonald 24/7 Wall St.named its annual CEO of the Year James A. Skinner of McDonald’s (MCD). He was picked from a field of ten executives which we profiled over the last ten days.

Skinner was chosen on the basis of his company’s stock price and financial performance compared with others in its own industry group and all large companies traded on US markets. Only firms with market caps of more than $5 billion were considered. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed revenue growth, operating margins, balance sheets, return on assets, and return on equity.

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Posted on: December 9, 2008 – 10:10 am in Management Change, , , , , , , , , , , ,

CEO Of The Year Nominees: 7) James A. Skinner Of McDonald’s (MCD)

Ronaldmcdonald24/7 Wall St. will name its annual CEO of the Year next week. The executive will be picked from a field of ten which we will profile this week

The CEOs are chosen on the basis of their company’s stock market and financial performances compared with their own industry groups and all large companies traded on US markets. Only firms with market caps of more than $5 billion were considered. 24/7 reviewed revenue growth, operating margins, balance sheets, return on assets, and return on equity.

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Posted on: December 4, 2008 – 6:48 pm in Management Change, , , ,

Media Digest 11/19/2008 Reuters, WSJ, New York Times, FT, Bloomberg.

NewspaperAccording to Reuters, Toyota (TM) cut production and Nissan was downbeat about its prospects.

Reuters reports that if a new CEO at Yahoo! (YHOO) wants to be well-regarded by shareholders, he or she must be willing to do a deal with Microsoft (MSFT).

Reuters reports that oil is trading steady around $54.

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Posted on: November 19, 2008 – 3:57 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jim Cramer Takes on Yum! CEO (YUM)

Yum_brands_logoTonight on CNBC’s MAD MONEY, Jim Cramer hosted Doug Novak, CEO of Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM), to discuss the economy and the company’s place in casual dining during a major economic slowdown.  With brands like Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut, Cramer wanted to see what was under the hood here.  He said the stock is trading at only 14-times earnings and was down over 7%today.  He noted a same store sales growth slowdown and squeezedmargins.  Cramer has been very positive on this stock before and never really changed his stance before today.  This was also one of our own New Defensive Stocks with a growth flare for 2008.

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Posted on: November 5, 2008 – 6:35 pm in Cramer, Defensive Stocks, Food, Retail,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (AEP, CREE, DRI, GPS, KEY, MFE, ORCL, SONC, YUM)

These are some of the upgrades and positive calls from analysts we have seen affecting shares this Friday morning:

  • American Electric Power (AEP) Raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  • Cree (CREE) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
  • Darden (DRI) Started as Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
  • Gap Inc. (GPS) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
  • KeyCorp (KEY) Raised to Sector Perform at RBC.
  • McAfee (MFE) Raised to Market Perform at FBR.
  • Oracle (ORCL) Raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  • Sonic (SONC) Started as Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
  • YUM Brands (YUM) Started as Overweight at Thomas Weisel.

Jon C. Ogg
September 19, 2008

Posted on: September 19, 2008 – 6:43 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , ,

Yum! Guidance Only Catches Up To Analysts (YUM)

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) just posted earnings and the fast food giant posted $0.45 EPS on $2.65 Billion in revenues (after $330 million in license fees).  First Call had estimates at $0.42 EPS and $2.55 Billion revenue.

As far as guidance, the food giant gave a $0.02 higher guidance number than before so the new number is $1.89 EPS (12% growth).  First Call has estimates of $1.89 EPS, so the company is only catching up to estimates that are already ahead of the company.

Most of the comments were upbeat with total international sales up 15% and China sales up 43%.  Global same store sales rose 4% and same store sales in China rose 14%.  Even the U.S. saw 2% same store sales growth.  The company said that foreign currency conversions did account for $8 million in Q1, about the same as Q1.

Shares closed up 2.85% at $36.47 today and shares are actually down about 1% at $36.00 in the initial reaction in after-hours trading.  Its 52-week trading range (split-adjusted) is $28.37 to $41.73.

Jon C. Ogg
July 16, 2008

Posted on: July 16, 2008 – 3:35 pm in Earnings, Food,