Yum! Brands (YUM) stock was down on Monday thanks to strong performance from Taco Bell in an economy that hasn’t been kind to fast-food companies. While Taco Bell has also experienced the effects of this, the fast-food chain still reported year-over-year same-store sales growth of 2% in its most recent quarter. For comparison, rival Mexican food chain Chipotle (CMG) experienced a 4% decrease in same-store sales year-over-year in Q2 2025.
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The key to Taco Bell’s success is its ever-changing menu. Rather than offer promotions on pre-existing menu items, as many other fast-food chains do, Taco Bell is focused on introducing more items to its menu. Doing so keeps its offerings fresh while also enticing customers to come try its new food. It helps that these are also limited-time offerings, pushing customers to come experience its new menu items before they disappear.
Taco Bell has also leaned into this with the recently launched Fan Style feature on its app. Using this, customers can share their customized menu items with others via a link or image. If other customers use this to purchase the menu item, the creator earns reward points for free food. This feature can be used by anyone but is especially valuable to food influencers, who can share codes with fans, helping generate more content on platforms such as TikTok. This also has the added effect of helping Taco Bell appeal to younger generations.
Yum! Brands Stock Movement Today
Yum! Brands stock was down slightly on Monday, but remained up 11.36% year-to-date. The company’s shares have also rallied 9.57% over the past 12 months. That’s despite the company having missed Wall Street’s earnings estimates in five of its eight latest quarters.
Is Yum! Brands Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, the analysts’ consensus rating for Yum! Brands is Moderate Buy, based on six Buy and 10 Hold ratings over the past three months. With that comes an average YUM stock price target of $161.47, representing a potential 9.3% upside for the shares.
