After Wednesday’s closing bell, Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM ) reported its fourth quarter earnings, missing the Street’s EPS expectations.
YUM's Earnings in Brief
- The company reported EPS of $0.61, falling short of analyst expectations of $0.66.
- Revenues came in at $4 billion, topping expectations of $3.97 billion.
- Worldwide operating profit declined 24%.
- Foreign currency translation accounted for an $11 million hit against operating profit.
CEO Commentary
CEO Greg Creed had the following comments: “We are committed to restoring our track record of delivering at least 10% annual EPS growth year after year. I am confident we will do this in 2015 as our China business recovers and we sustain positive momentum across the rest of Yum!. Overall results in 2014 were disappointing as the Chinese supplier incident in July offset our strong first half of the year. Our top priority is to recover sales in China and capture the significant profit leverage we have in this business.”
YUM's Dividend
The company made no mention of its dividend in its earnings report, but the stock pays out its next dividend on Friday, and will likely announce its next payment sometime next month.
Stock Performance
Despite the earnings miss, CEO commentary helped calm investors and the stock jump over 2% in after-hours trading.
The Bottom Line
Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM ) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars.
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