Restaurant brand owner Yum! Brands reported a net income of $432m in Q1 2026, an increase of 71% compared to $253m a year earlier.
For the quarter ended 31 March 2026, the company’s revenue climbed to $2.059bn, up 15% from $1.787bn in the first quarter of 2025.
The total restaurant base of the company expanded by 5% in the quarter.
The KFC division continued to expand its footprint, opening 648 gross new restaurants across 45 countries in the quarter.
Taco Bell opened 30 gross new restaurants across eight countries during the same period while Pizza Hut added 346 gross new restaurants across 27 countries.
The Habit Burger Grill division opened six gross new restaurants in the quarter.
Yum! Brands’ worldwide system sales increased 6% when excluding the effect of currency translation.
Excluding Pizza Hut, the system sales rose 7% on a constant-currency basis.
Group GAAP operating profit was up 17% in the quarter while core operating profit increased 6%.
First-quarter GAAP earnings per share were $1.55, rising from $0.90 recorded in the same period a year ago.
EPS excluding special items stood at $1.50, a 15% rise compared with the same quarter last year.
Digital system sales were close to $11bn in the quarter, representing a record 63% of total system sales.
Yum! Brands CEO Chris Turner said: “We delivered solid topline momentum to start the year, with our fundamentals as strong as ever.
“Yum! is incredibly well-positioned to sustain sales momentum thanks to strong global consumer appeal for our brands, long-term consumption tailwinds, and our tech and AI capabilities."
