YUM - YUM! Brands Inc. (NYSE Stock)

[BadThad]

Stock surges up today with higher than expected earnings. I'm not in the play, but watching. Should see a pullback after this run today. China is doing very well for them. Look for a buy point before the next quarter is reported in January, should see another surge....easy money with good timing!

YUM on Google Finanace

Today's Price: $38.07

[BadThad]

Good stuff:

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) -- Shares of fast-food restaurant operator Yum Brands Inc. rose more than 5% in early trading Tuesday, moving higher in the wake of its latest profit report and an upwardly revised forecast.

Late Monday, Yum (YUM) reported a 17% gain in third-quarter profit, helped by strong overseas growth particularly in China, and raised its full-year outlook.

Net income for the three months ended Sept. 8 came in at $270 million, or 50 cents a share, compared with $230 million, or 42 cents a share, for the same period a year ago.

Sales generated by the Louisville, Ky.-based restaurant operator were $2.56 billion, up from last year's $2.28 billion. Quarterly revenue at outlets open more than a year, the industry benckmark known as same-store sales, climbed 4% worldwide.

Analysts, on average, had expected Yum to earn 45 cents a share on revenue of $2.44 billion, according to estimates compiled by Thomson Financial. Shares were up $1.75, or 4.8%, to $38.04 in recent action.

"Yum once again quieted the cynics (yes, even us) with high-quality 3Q results," analysts at CIBC World Markets wrote in a note issued Tuesday morning.

Yum also said it plans $4 billion in share repurchases over the next two years.

The company also said it now expects full-year earnings to rise 13% instead of 12%, to $1.65 a share. The Thomson Financial-derived average forecast was for $ 1.64 a share.

The company, whose brands include Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC, said U.S. same-store sales rose 1% in the latest quarter. Same-store sales in China climbed 11%, helping fuel an overall jump in international same-store sales of 7%.

"Our U.S. business performance improved versus the first half of the year; however, sales and profit growth remain below our target level due to results at Taco Bell," said David Novak, Yum's chairman and chief executive, in a news release. "For the fourth quarter, we expect improved Taco Bell results, solid U.S. profit growth and strong overall profit growth from the Yum global portfolio."

Also late Monday, Moody's Investors Service affirmed its ratings on Yum's Baa2 non-guaranteed senior unsecured and Baa1 guaranteed senior unsecured debt but changed its outlook to negative from stable.

Moody's said the affirmation of its ratings reflects the support of Yum's broad scale. The company owns 34,917 restaurants worldwide.

"However, Moody's remains concerned with what it views as the adoption of a more aggressive financial policy with sizeable share repurchases and increased dividend payouts, supported by higher debt levels and non-operating cash flows," Moody's said in a news release.

[greencat]

YUM breaking out of an big decending triangle pattern. Looks like it will make a nice move. It must hold the top trendline around $42.50